A judicial review hearing of the Election Law to examine the revised petition by Berkarya Party, Monday (1/9/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ilham W. M.

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Monday, January 9, 2023 | 14:22 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another material judicial review of Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on Monday, January 9, 2023. The hearing for case No. 117/PUU-XX/2022 was to examine revisions to the petition.

On behalf of the Petitioner, legal counsel Rino said the legal standing and argument of constitutional impairment had been revised. “The additions were in number II on legal standing and the constitutional impairment in point 3,” he said virtually. Meanwhile, the petitum did not change.

Constitutional Justices M. Guntur Hamzah (panel chair), Manahan M. P. Sitompul, and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh also approved pieces of evidence that the Petitioner had submitted. “We have received evidence P1 through P17, which the Court has verified. We hereby approve evidence P1 through P17,” he said.

Also read: Berkarya Party Questions Terms of Office of President-Vice President

The petition No. 117/PUU-XX/2022 against Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law was filed by the central executive board (DPP) of the Berkarya Party, represented by chairman Muchdi Purwopranjono and secretary-general Fauzan Rachmansyah.

At the preliminary hearing on Thursday, December 15, 2022, the Petitioner through legal counsel M. Malik Ibrahim asserted that Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law had restricted or reduced their constitutional right to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates by regulating that presidential and vice-presidential candidates must not have served in the same position for two terms, as supplemented by a statement letter.

They believe Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution is divided into two clauses: “The President and Vice President shall hold the position for five years” and “after that they can be re-elected for the same term of office, only for one term of office.” The entire article can be interpreted that a pair of president and vice-president that is holding the office for five years can be reelected for the same positions for only one five-year term.

Therefore, if any incumbent president or vice president who is seeking reelection or is being nominated invites another candidate to run for office, they would not be bound by Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution, since it stipulates that reelection can be possible for an incumbent president or vice president with a new candidate. Therefore, In the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Constitutional Court declare Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law unconstitutional and not legally binding. 

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Raisa Ayudhita
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 1/10/2023 09:05 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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