Petitioner Suryadin reading out the subject matter at the preliminary hearing of the material judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, Tuesday (4/11/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the judicial review hearing of Article 92 paragraph (2) letters c and d and Article 117 paragraph (1) letters g and h of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 in the plenary courtroom. The hearing for petition No. 34/PUU-XXI/2023, filed by Suryadin, was presided over by Constitutional Justices Wahiduddin Adams, Saldi Isra, and Enny Nurbaningsih.

Article 92 paragraph (2) letters c and d of the Election Law reads, “The total number of commissioners shall be as follows: c. A Regency/City Bawaslu shall consist of 3 (three) or 5 (five) commissioners; and, d. A sub-district Panwaslu shall consist of 3 (three) members.”

Article 117 paragraph (1) letters g and h of the Election Law reads, “The requirements to be a candidate of Bawaslu, Provincial Bawaslu, Regency/City Bawaslu commissioner or member of Sub-district Panwaslu, Village Panwaslu, or polling station supervisors are: g. a Bawaslu commissioner candidate must reside in Indonesia, a Provincial Bawaslu commissioner candidate must reside in the relevant province, a Regency/City Bawaslu commissioner candidate must reside in the relevant regency/city, proven by the address stated in their national ID card; h. physically and mentally able, and does not abuse narcotics/illegal substances.”

The Petitioner, who attended the hearing in person, revealed that he had participated in the selection of Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) members of Dompu Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province in 2017 ad 2022. In September 2022, he passed the administrative selection, the written test, and the interview, and was declared a prospective interim member. The Petitioner questioned the mental health certificate from psychiatrist that the Dompu Regency Bawaslu required of all applicants, while the selection for the subdistrict Panwaslu (Elections Supervisory Committee) of Dompu Regency did not require it.

“[I] request the constitutional justices to declare Article 117 paragraph (1) letters g and h and the elucidation as well as the appendix of the Election Law unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as ‘submitting a mental health certificate from a psychiatrist for candidates of subdistrict elections supervisory committee members, village elections supervisory committee (PKD) members, and polling station supervisors (PTPS), resides in the subdistrict for candidates of village Panwaslu members, and resides in the hamlet for candidates of polling station supervisors,” the Petitioner read out the petitum before the constitutional justices.

Justices’ Advice

Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra advised the Petitioner to observe the Constitutional Court Regulation No. 2 of 2021, which details the format of the petition, and to explain his constitutional impairment that he suffered due to the enactment of the norms. The justice also advised him to review the things that he requested (petitum).

“In the petitum, [you] mentioned the elucidation of the article, while the petition does not mention that. This must be clear, otherwise it would be vague because the background and the petitum do not match,” Justice Saldi explained.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said the Petitioner needed to observe past petitions on the issue, especially to strengthen the background. “[You] must work hard to argue that the petition is not ne bis in idem with the previous petitions, then move on to the posita. Also learn Bawaslu’s regulations and the legislation comprehensively to clarify the correlation,” she said.

Before adjourning the session, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams announced that the Petitioner had 14 days to revise the petition and submit it to the Registrar’s Office on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 13:00 WIB. 

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Tiara Agustina
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (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.

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