Chief Justice Anwar Usman delivered the keynote speech and opened the workshop on the 2024 election results disputes for the Gerindra Party, Monday (2/13/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
Monday, February 13, 2023, | 20:38 WIB
BOGOR (MKRI) — General elections are a constitutional mechanism for the people to periodically carry out the succession of national leadership. The electoral mechanism is an absolute requirement for a country that declares itself a democratic state. Without elections, there is no democracy, and without democracy, there is no people's sovereignty in the process of governing.
It was stated by Chief Justice Anwar Usman when opened the workshop on the General Election Dispute Procedure Law for the Gerindra Party on Monday, February 13, 2023, at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Cisarua, Bogor. Also present Acting Secretary General, Heru Setiawan, and the Chairman of the Legal Advocacy Institution of the Gerindra Party, M. Maulana Bungaran.
“Therefore, that is why the process in the elections is called a democracy because, in the election process, the people are seated in a noble place to determine the fate of the country's journey, to choose its national leader in the executive branch, and its representatives in the legislative branch,” said Anwar in front of some 151 workshop participants consisting of officials and members of the Gerindra Party from throughout Indonesia.
Furthermore, Anwar said that the development of democracy and elections is a process that must be positively interpreted. Although it must also be understood that this development has also produced a high level of complexity in the system's problems. These problems are not only in the implementation of the election process but also related to the settlement of election disputes after the vote recapitulation is carried out.
“Regardless of all the shortcomings in the system and implementation of democracy and election law enforcement, which must always be evaluated and improved, we should also be grateful for the other side,” added Anwar.
Anwar urged that to maintain the democratic process and achieve the expected election results, cooperation and synergy of all elements of society are needed. He conveyed that all these elements must synergize to succeed in the election to safeguard people's sovereignty
“I would like to convey a special message to political party members and its officials, that political parties are pillars of democracy and key players for the successful and democratic implementation of the 2024 election. For this reason, this workshop is held by the Constitutional Court in collaboration with political parties, with the hope of building a working synergy between state organizers and democratic institutions to realize the mandate of the 1945 Constitution, to build a democratic state based on the law,” concluded Anwar.
Socialization the Procedural Law
In session 1, Justice Saldi Isra and Manahan M.P. Sitompul were present as speakers. Starting his presentation, Manahan explained that there are two large parts of the election, namely the Presidential Election (Pilpres) and the Legislative Election (DPR, DPRD, and DPD). In this presentation, Manahan emphasized the discussion on the General Election Dispute Procedure Law for 2024 as stipulated in the Constitutional Court Regulation Number 2 of 2023 concerning Procedure Rules in Cases of General Election Disputes of the Members of the House of Representatives and Regional Representatives Council. According to him, there are three object petition elements in the general election dispute case, namely the vote tally determination by the KPU.
“Because the KPU (General Election Commission) has become the target of PHPU (Constitutional Court) and the applicant is a political party. Due to political developments, some individual candidates run against fellow party members who have been nominated and filed a petition,” said Manahan.
Regarding the requirements for filing a petition, Manahan explained that the petition must be filed by the national board of the participating political party in the election. The petition must be directly signed by the chairman and general secretary of the respective political party. “Meanwhile, individual applicants must obtain permission from the general secretary of the relevant political party,” he said.
Manahan also added that the petition can be filed no later than 3 x 24 hours after the announcement of the results of the election of members of the DPR (House of Representatives) and DPRD (Regional House of Representatives) nationally by the Respondent – in this case, the KPU. “Therefore, the Constitutional Court must be ready to receive the petition during that 3 x 24-hour period,” he added.
Election Disputes
Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra revealed that there are two types of disputes in elections, namely disputes in stages or more commonly known as administrative disputes, and election result disputes handled by the Constitutional Court. According to Saldi, disputes in stages or administrative disputes can result in criminal sanctions. In contrast, election result disputes affect the determination of candidates for members of the DPR and DPRD. In addition, he continued, election result disputes will involve the Bawaslu and other institutions that can impose criminal sanctions.
“The latest is that there is even a dispute regarding political party candidates. Gerindra is lucky because it meets the threshold, so it is much simpler than for new political parties,” he said.
Saldi reminded participants that if they allege vote loss, they must provide complete evidence. He emphasized the importance of evidence and advised participants to have a team to collect evidence. “Why is evidence important? If there is a loss of votes by 1000 votes, then the KPU will come with the vote recapitulation that they have at the relevant polling station. Our election is indeed complicated, but this is what we have to face,” Saldi added.
Furthermore, Saldi emphasized that the latest registration of a petition for PHPU 2024 can only be submitted once. “My suggestion is if you want to add evidence, then register at the end. So, during the 3 x 24-hour registration period, only register once. You cannot add more because it is easy for political parties, but difficult for case administrators at the Constitutional Court,” he explained.
Understanding of the procedural law
Meanwhile, Acting Secretary General, Heru Setiawan, in his report, stated that the purpose of holding the training on the Procedure of Settlement of Election Disputes (PHPU) in 2024 is to provide an understanding of the procedures, mechanisms, and stages, techniques, and practices of Drafting Petitions and Statements of Relevant Parties to various management elements and members of the Gerindra Party who are potentially going to be Petitioners or Relevant Parties in PHPU court proceedings at the Constitutional Court.
“With the understanding of the procedural law in settling disputes in the 2024 General Election by the parties who will litigate in the Constitutional Court, it will facilitate the process of the trial of disputes settlement of election results. As we know, the PHPU trial in the Constitutional Court is a speedy trial because there is a time limit that must be met. Therefore, the two aforementioned things we conveyed are related to the drafting of petitions,” said Heru.
Heru continued, the Gerindra Party training is the second activity in a series of training activities held by the Constitutional Court for 18 national political parties and 6 local political parties in Aceh as participants in the 2024 Simultaneous Elections.
“In addition to political parties participating in the election, this PHPU training is also planned for prospective Members of the Regional Representative Council, the General Election Commission (KPU), the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and Advocates who are members of several advocate organizations during the span of 2023,” explained Heru to participants consisting of Management and Members of the Gerindra Party.
Heru also stated that material will be provided in the introduction of the Constitutional Court website (mkri.id). This is because, in the future, petitions or Statements of Relevant Parties in Election Dispute Cases will be registered through the Constitutional Court website.
Important for Gerindra
Secretary of the Honorary Council and Chairman of the Indonesian Law Advocacy Institution for the Gerindra Party, M. Maulana Bungaran stated that this training is not the first time, but it is still needed to refresh their knowledge on election disputes. “For Gerindra, this is very important. From years of experience, knowledge still needs to be refreshed. We need this training,” he said.
Maulana mentioned that in the 2019 PHPU, the Gerindra Party was the political party that succeeded in passing many PHPU cases in the Constitutional Court. “There were cases that were granted with a recount of votes. In addition, Gerindra was able to maintain many seats, and this was also due to training from the Constitutional Court. Therefore, we require full-time attendance at this training. Because there is too much knowledge that will be gained from this training,” he explained.
The Gerindra Party's workshop held from Monday to Thursday (13-16/2/2023) and will be attended by 151 participants. The materials that will be provided to the participants include (1) Constitutional Court and the Dynamics of Handling Dispute Cases in the Constitutional Court; (2) Procedural Law for Resolving Disputes over the Results of the 2024 General Election; (3) Mechanisms, Stages, and Activities for Handling Dispute Cases in the 2024 General Election; (4) Techniques and Practices for Preparing Petitions and Preparing Statements from Relevant Parties; (5) Information System for Handling Dispute Cases over the Results of the 2024 General Election; and (6) Evaluation of the Results of Preparing Petitions and Statements from Relevant Parties. (*)
Author: Lulu Anjarsari P.
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator: Berlian Febrina Viaraputri (NL)
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.
Monday, February 13, 2023 | 20:38 WIB 336