Constitutional Justices Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah, Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, and Manahan M. P. Sitompul prevising over a preliminary hearing of the Political Party Law, Thursday (7/27/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Risky Kurniawan, a law student of the International University of Batam, challenges Law No. 2 of 2011 on the Amendment to Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties materially. The preliminary hearing for case No. 77/PUU-XXI/2023 took place in the Constitutional Court (MK) on Thursday, July 27, 2023, Constitutional Justices M. Guntur Hamzah, Manahan M. P. Sitompul, and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh presiding.

The Petitioner challenges Article 2 paragraph (1b) of the Political Party Law, which reads, “The founder and the executive members of a Political Party shall not be the concurrent member of another political party.”

The Petitioner’s legal counsel, Otniel Raja Maruli Situmorang, said at the hearing that the Petitioner had been a member of the Golongan Karya (Golkar) Party since June 30, 2023. He has made a target that in the future, after making sizeable contributions to the party, he will seek to become the party’s chairperson. However, due to the absence of a binding regulation on the term of office of a party chairperson in the Political Party Law, his target is restricted. The absence has left the Golkar Party chairperson able to hold office indefinitely, despite the fact that the party’s statute/bylaws regulate this. Such indefinite term is not justified, the Petitioner argued, since it could lead to abuse of power when the authority is taken personally.

“The Petitioner requests that the Court declare Article 2 paragraph (1b) of Law No. 2 of 2011 on the Amendment to Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties in violation of the 1945 Constitution and not having legal force if not interpreted to mean ‘executive members of a political party, especially the chairman or any designation following the party’s statute and bylaws, shall hold office for five years and can only be reelected twice in the same position, either consecutively [or not], and the founder and executive members of the political party shall not be the concurrent member of another political party,’” said Situmorang alongside the legal counsel, Albert Ola Masan Setiawan Muda.

Justices’ Advice

In response to the petition, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh advised the Petitioner to argue the article’s unconstitutionality by explaining the correlation between the article and his constitutional rights. He also asked the Petitioner to present a comparison to such a regulation for political parties in other countries, so that the constitutional justices would be able to experts’ views on the importance of the restriction of a party chairperson’s term of office.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul advised the Petitioner to prove his legal standing by proving his party membership. “To argue legal standing, indicate the Petitioner’s membership in the political party and the correlation between his constitutional impairment and the enactment of the norm. So, elaborate if a Golkar member’s right to propose the statute/bylaws on the term of office, where if any? Do not only feel that you have a right, but [explain] the correlation between members and the term of the party’s chairperson. If there is no factual or potential loss, the legal standing will be vague,” he explained.

Before adjourning the session, Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah announced that the Petitioner had 14 workdays to revise the petition and submit it to the Registrar’s Office no later than Wednesday, August 9 at 10:00 WIB.   

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Muhammad Halim
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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