Chief Justice Anwar Usman and chairman of the central executive board (DPP) of Nasdem Party Taufik Basari at the opening of the workshop on the general election results dispute resolution, Monday (3/6/2023) at the Constitutional Court. Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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Monday, March 6, 2023 | 21:24 WIB

BOGOR (MKRI) — Workshops on the 2024 General Election Results Dispute Resolution (PHPU) served to ensure the success of the election in all stages. Disputes over election results are the final stage of the election process, which will take place simultaneously next year, said Chief Justice Anwar Usman when opening the workshop for the National Democrat (Nasdem) Party on Monday, March 6, 2023 at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center in Bogor, West Java Province.

General elections are a constitutional mechanism for the people to recruit national leaders. Without elections, democracy does not exist. Without democracy, people do not have sovereignty.  “Therefore, the election is referred to as a festival of democracy since it puts the people in the noble position of directing the course of the nation,” he stressed.

In addition, the Constitution mandates that elections be carried out in a direct, public, free, confidential, honest, and fair manner. If election principles are observed well, the election will run smoothly and its results produce good leadership.

Procedural Law

In his presentation in the first session, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams said that the PHPU cannot be separated from participating political parties. The upcoming 2024 Election will see 18 national parties and 6 Aceh parties competing for votes.

The litigants in a PHPU case are petitioners—which could be political parties participating in election, DPR (House of Representatives) or DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) member candidates of a certain party who have obtained the approval of the party’s chairman and secretary-general, or DPRA (Aceh Legislative Council) and DPRK (Aceh Regency Legislative Council) members for Aceh parties; as well as the KPU (General Elections Commission) as Respondent.

“The main object in the PHPU in the Constitutional Court is the national valid votes certified by the KPU,” Justice Wahiduddin Adams said. He added that the Relevant Parties are other political parties who has a stake in the election and DPR/DPRD member candidates of a certain party who have obtained the approval of the party’s chairman and secretary-general.

A PHPU petition, he added, should be filed within 3x24 hours since the KPU announced the results. The Constitutional Court will work 24 hours to receive the petition. It will also make online filing available, so that petitioners do not have to come to the Court in person.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh noted that the petition must have obtained the approval of the party’s chairman and secretary-general. Any petition filed to and already adjudicated by the Court cannot be withdrawn, he warned.

He then explained the requirements for PHPU petition. “For the presidential election, the petition must be filed within 3 days and be resolved within 14 days. For legislative election, it must be filed within 3 x 24 house and be resolved within 30 workdays” he said.

Speedy Trial

In his remarks, Acting Secretary-General Heru Setiawan said that the development of democracy and the election should be perceived positively despite resulting in high complexity. This complexity also bleeds into the resolution of disputes over the election after the votes are recapitulated.

This workshop, Heru said, was important since the Court was only allotted a short time by Laws to adjudicate election disputes, thus its hearings are called speedy trial. “With the limited time. All parties that potentially litigate in the Court on PHPU must understand technical matters relating to the Court’s hearings,” he said.

Next, Taufik Basari, chairman of the central executive board (DPP) of Nasdem Party said this workshop had immense benefits, especially for advocates who would like to litigate in the Constitutional Court. “Of course, most importantly, litigants must understand the Court’s procedural laws, especially that on election results dispute resolution. There are differences between that in the Constitutional Court and in district courts, so this [workshop] is very beneficial,” he stressed.

Author       : Bayu Wicaksono
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/13/2023 11:58 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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