The preliminary hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, Tuesday (10/11/2022). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2022 | 16:02 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—The Constitutional Court (MK) held a preliminary hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on Tuesday, October 11, 2022. The petition No. 87/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by Leonardo Siahaan, who holds a law undergraduate degree. The hearing was presided over by Constitutional Justices Suhartoyo (chair), Wahiduddin Adams, and Enny Nurbaningsih in the plenary courtroom.

The Petitioner challenges Article 240 paragraph (1) letter g of the Election Law, which reads, “having not been criminally punished by a verdict of a court with a binding legal power due to committing a criminal act punished by incarceration of 5 (five) or more years, unless the individual openly and honestly announces to the public that they have served their time as a convict.”

He believes the provision, especially the phrase ‘unless the individual openly and honestly announces to the public that they have served their time as a convict,’ allows convicts who receive such sentences to for candidates for the House of Representatives (DPR) or the provincial/regency/city Regional Legislative Council (DPRD). The provision, he argues, gives convicted corruptors whose political rights are revoked to run for the legislature, which represents the interests of the people. He believes such candidates, who lack integrity, will add to the problems in the parliament, both at the central and regional levels, because they will likely spread only transmit the seeds of corruption to other members of the legislature or they may repeat their corrupt practices or even encourage others to follow suit. 

“This article gives corruptors a leeway to run as legislative candidates. This could potentially harm the Petitioner and lead to a domino effect. Corruption has a wide impact on society, including the Petitioner. The article allows ex-convicts to take advantage of it, despite their political rights being regulated in other provisions,” said the Petitioner in person.

In the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the constitutional justices grant his petition in its entirety and “declare the phrase ‘unless the individual openly and honestly announces to the public that they have served their time as a convict’ in Article 240 paragraph (1) letter g of the Election Law unconstitutional,” he stressed.

Constitutional Justices’ Advice

Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams asserted that the Petitioner’s constitutional loss had not been clearly elaborated. He also requested that the Petitioner take into account Law No. 12 of 2011 as well as past decisions by the Court on similar petitions.

“The a quo article has been ruled by the Court. Take into account whether the touchstones in [those petitions] were the same as the petition filed by the Petitioner for this case. The Petitioner also needs to review the elaboration of the contradiction between the norm [being petitioned] and the touchstone,” he said.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih noted that the Petitioner’s profile had not followed the required format. She also advised him to take into account the Court’s Decision No. 81/PUU-XVI/2018 on the types of constitutional impairment that could give him legal standing.

“Please observe [similar] decisions and relate them to this petition to avoid it being ne bis in idem before going into the posita. Elaborate this comprehensively,” she added.

Lastly, Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo said that the Petitioner’s argument on his constitutional impairment was too general and requested that it be made more specific, such as by elaborating on the right to vote and be elected, so that the impairment would be more concrete.

Before concluding the session, Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo informed the Petitioner that he had 14 workdays to revise the petition and submit it to the Registrar’s Office by Monday, October 24, 2022 at 15:00 WIB.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Raisa Ayudhita
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/11/2022 20:46 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.

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