Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih (panel chair) entering the courtroom for the petition revision hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 17 of 2022 on West Sumatera Province, Tuesday (10/25/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2022 | 15:04 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI)—The Constitutional Court (MK) held another the judicial review hearing of Law No. 17 of 2022 on West Sumatera Province on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at the panel courtroom. The case No. 97/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by Dedi Juliasman, Wahyu Setiadi, Dicky Christopher, and Basilius Naijiu (Petitioners I-IV), who argue that Article 5 letter c of the West Sumatera Law contradicts Article 18B paragraph (2), Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28E paragraph (2), Article 28I paragraphs (2) and (3), and Article 29 paragraph (2) 1945 Constitution.

At this petition revision hearing, legal counsel Rinto Wardana conveyed the revisions to the petition. Since the deadline for the formal judicial review had passed, the Petitioners focused on the material judicial review and, thus, changed the petition’s format following the Constitutional Court’s regulation on material judicial review petition. He added that the Petitioners’ and the legal counsel’s profiles had been revised and the Petitioners’ potential constitutional impairment due to the enactment of the a quo norm had been elaborated.

“This petition also includes a [quote] of the a quo article that does not represent the entire culture and custom of West Sumatera, including Mentawai. It does not provide space but instead discriminate against the Mentawai ethnicity,” he explained.

Also read: W. Sumatera Law Deemed Failing to Represent Mentawai Local Wisdom

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners alleged that the characteristics of the customs and culture of Mentawai Regency and 11 other regencies in West Sumatera, which greatly reflects Islamic law, are not accommodated. The value of the philosophy of ‘basandi syara’, syara’ basandi kitabullah’ adopted by the Minangkabau ethnic community does not apply absolutely and does not become a philosophy of life for the Mentawai people. Whereas in West Sumatera, two ethnic groups inhabiting the area have different characteristics. Mentawai people are Christians and Catholics, use the Mentawai language daily, and follows a patrilineal descent system.

The hegemony of Minangkabau culture over Mentawai culture had existed for a long time, such as over the re-naming of the smallest territorial unit in Mentawai known as ‘laggai’ in the to ‘nagari’ following the West Sumatera custom. In addition, the Mentawai community also experience cultural discrimination, such as stigma about Mentawai women, transmigration of single people of Mentawai, and mandatory headscarves for non-Muslim students in primary to secondary schools.

Therefore, Law No. 17 of 2022 on West Sumatera Province has not accommodated and acknowledged Mentawai customs as a characteristic of the Mentawai ethnic community. This law only accommodates the characteristics of Minangkabau cultural customs whereas in this province there are two ethnic communities who are not immigrants. These two ethnic groups are indigenous peoples who have inhabited the geographical and administrative areas of West Sumatera for a long time

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

Translation uploaded on 10/26/2022 09:28 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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