Chief Justice Anwar Usman giving a first lecture at the Law Faculty of As-Syafi’iyah Islamic University (FH UIA) virtually, Wednesday (9/28/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | 16:36 WIB
JAKARTA (MKRI) — Chief Justice Anwar Usman gave a first lecture to the students of the Law Faculty of As-Syafi’iyah Islamic University (FH UIA) virtually on Wednesday, September 28, 2022. UIA rector Masduki Ahmad and FH UIA dean Efridani Lubis were in attendance.
The chief justice said regional head elections (pilkada) are a concrete means for the people to determine government leaders at the regional level. Community participation in local elections is a form of popular sovereignty in a democracy. As the name implies—demos means people and kratos means government—people’s government is carried out through direct elections by the people.
“Through regional elections, the people can directly vote for the leaders in their regions. Therefore, regional elections are the delegation of people’s sovereignty to (the candidate pair) to represent them in formulating public policies, especially at the regional government. For this reason, in order to maintain the purity of the people’s aspirations, the regional election process must be as transparent as possible, accountable, and with strict supervision. This is so that the regional head elections gain strong legitimacy, because they receive a direct mandate from the people,” he explained.
Regional head elections, he explained, is the mandate of Article 18 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution and Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law). The pilkada is held simultaneously in several stages. The first phase began in 2015. It will be held simultaneously nationally in 2024.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman said although implementing regional elections is the responsibility of the General Elections Commission (KPU) as the election organizer, the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) also serves as an election organizer that supervises ongoing election process. However, the election is also the responsibility of various parties, including the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Constitutional Court has collaborated with the Ministry of Home Affairs in providing population data, which is the basis for the citizens’ right to vote.
He explained that there is also a mechanism for resolving election violations based on the type of violation and the respective stages.
“Some of the violations referred to are violations of code of ethics, which is the jurisdiction of the Election Organizer Ethics Council (DKPP); administrative violations, which is the jurisdiction of Bawaslu; election crimes, which is the jurisdiction of the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu) and general courts; state administrative disputes, which is the jurisdiction of the State Administrative Court (PTUN); and settlement of election results dispute cases as the final part of the pilkada process. Meanwhile, the resolution of disputes on the certification of the vote acquisition results by the candidate pairs in regional head elections, based on Article 157 paragraph (3) of Law No. 10 of 2016, are handled by the Constitutional Court until a special judicial body is formed,” he explained.
Democratic Rights
Chief Justice Anwar Usman also explained that fulfilling democratic rights of the people is the state’s obligation, which always comes with challenges.
“[Indonesia] have had experience since 2005 of direct regional head elections and of simultaneous regional elections from 2015 until 2018. However, the simultaneous regional election in 2020 certainly faced unusual challenges such as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also faced by various countries,” he said.
He believed the Government faced a dilemma when implementing the 2020 simultaneous regional election amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, the state was obliged to fulfill the citizens’ constitutional rights. On the other hand, it was also faced with the need to implement health protocols in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19 in the community. The implementation of health protocols is part of fulfilling public health rights in accordance with the constitutional mandate. The challenges and choices in carrying out the simultaneous local election in 2020 were indeed heavy. It was even delayed, from originally September 23 to December 9.
The Government and the House of Representatives (DPR) decided to continue the simultaneous local election in 2020. Of course, many adjustments must be made in each stage, including in resolving disputes over the results in the Constitutional Court. Such adjustments were not easy but not impossible.
The chief justice believed the COVID-19 pandemic was God’s fate for mankind to strengthen humans’ religious beliefs. “As a Muslim, I believe in and hold on to the words of Allah SWT in Surah Al-Baqarah verse 286: ‘Allah does not burden a soul but to the extent of their ability; for it is what they have earned (virtues), and upon it what they have earned (crimes),’” he said.
“Thank God, thanks to the good cooperation of all parties, the democratic simultaneous regional election in 2020 that was in accordance with the principles of the Constitution and statutory laws and regulations, have been passed and carried out as good as possible,” he added.
2024 Simultaneous Election
In 2024, Indonesia will hold a presidential and legislative election on February 14 and a regional election on November 27. The legislative election is to elect members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), and the provincial and regency/city Regional Legislative Council (DPRD). The regional election will elect governors, regents, mayors, and their deputies.
Indonesia will enter a political year starting in 2023. The Constitutional Court is prepared as it has been and continues to deliver modern, fast, simple, and free proceedings. It guarantees public case administration and information technology systems, supported by quality human resources who are trustworthy and transparent for the sake of modern judiciary.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman emphasized that the Constitutional Court will continue to provide the widest possible opportunity for all people to make optimal use of Constitutional Court in the constitutional system in Indonesia. This is done by continuing to develop the procedural process toward modern, fast, simple, and free judicial process relating to hearing management, case duration, and the procedure of filing and examining petitions. It also continues to make efforts to provide convenience for justice seekers.
“Currently, the public can feel how easy it is to litigate in the Constitutional Court. The public can file an electronic petition online and in real-time (instantly) through the electronic petition information system (SIMPEL), a web-based application to provide direct access to file electronic petition online. It also allows the public to monitor the progress of cases and access various services such as hearing schedules, summons, transcripts, decisions, etc. In addition, court hearings can also be conducted virtually,” he said.
The Constitutional Court also often organizes constitution awareness program for the citizens and advocates, as well as seminars and workshops. This is solely for improving citizens’ understanding of the importance of constitutional rights.
Writer : Utami Argawati
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 12/28/2022 08:44 WIB
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | 16:36 WIB 122