The legal counsels of the Berkarya Party reading the revisions to the petition at the judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, Monday (6/26/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on Monday, June 26, 2023. The case No. 56/PUU-XXI/2023 was filed by the Berkarya Party, who challenges Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law.

At the on-site hearing chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, legal counsel Rahman Kurniansyah read out the revisions to the petition. “First, the title was revised to the revision to the judicial review petition of Article 169 and Article 227 letter i of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections against the 1945 Constitution,” he explained.

He added that Article 28C paragraph (2) has been added as touchstone. There was also the addition of the KPU (General Elections Commission) letter No. 551 of 2022 on the amendment to the KPU Decree No. 518 of 2022 on the certification of political parties contesting in the election dated December 14, 2022.

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Court Rejects Berkarya Party’s Petition on President’s Term of Office 

Article 169 letter n of the Election Law reads, “Requirements that must be fulfilled by a Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate are as follows: n. having not served as a president or vice president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position.”

Article 227 letter i of the Election Law reads, “Registration of a presidential candidate ticket as mentioned in Article 226 shall be supplemented by the following documents: i. a statement letter certifying that the nominated candidates has never served as a president or a vice president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position.”

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, June 12, legal counsel Erizal explained that the Petitioner was not mentioned in the KPU (General Elections Commission) Decree No. 518 of 2022 on the Stipulation of Political Parties in the Election dated December 14, 2022, so it will not contest in the 2024 Election. “Although the Petitioner is not a contesting party in the 2024 Election, it believes it has legal standing [in this case,” he appealed before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat and Suhartoyo.

He argued that along with coalition of parties contesting in the 2024 Election, the Petitioner had met the presidential threshold requirements. In addition, since it is a non-parliamentary party, it did not discuss Law No. 7 of 2017 so, following the Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-XII/2014 it has legal standing to file the case. Therefore, it asserted that it had a right to fair legal certainty, equal opportunity in government, and the constitutional right to endorse a presidential ticket prior to the election.

The Petitioner is arguing that Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law, which contains the word “or,” imply that both presidential and vice-presidential candidates must “not have served as a president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position” or “not have served as a vice president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position.” As such, the legal consequence of these articles is that a president who has served for two terms cannot be re-endorsed as a vice president in the next election. This harms the Petitioner and other parties contesting in the 2024 Election that have formed a coalition to endorse a certain presidential ticket.

Based on these reasons, the Petitioner requests that the Court grant the petition and declare Article 169 letter n and Article 227 letter i of the Election Law unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted to mean “a presidential candidate shall not have served as a president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position or a vice-presidential candidate shall not have served as a vice president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position” and not interpreted to mean “a statement letter that a presidential candidate has not served as a president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position” or “a statement letter that a vice-presidential candidate has not served as a vice president for 2 (two) tenures in the same position.” 

Author       : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Andhini S. F.
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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