Chief Justice Suhartoyo delivering the verdict of the material judicial review of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Regional Election, Wednesday (3/20/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) declared its approval the retraction of a petition by the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The ruling hearing for Decree No. 29/PUU-XXII/2024 on the judicial review of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law) took place in the plenary courtroom.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo said the Court had received the petition on February 5, 2024. Based on Article 34 of the Constitutional Court Law, it had held a preliminary hearing on February 23. On March 6, the Court received an email from the Petitioner, which conveyed the retraction of the petition.

“The justice deliberation meeting on March 7 had determined that the retraction was legally justified and, thus, the Petitioner cannot re-file the petition. [The Court] stipulates, grants the retraction of the Petitioner’s petition,” said Chief Justice Suhartoyo.

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Perludem Requests Regional Election to Start March 2025

Perludem Retracts Petition on Regional Election

In the petition No. 29/PUU-XXII/2024, Perludem challenged Article 201 paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) of the Pilkada Law. Essentially, it requested that the Court reinterpret the norm so that the nationally simultaneous regional election take place on March 2025 and the regional heads-elect be inaugurated by July 2025.

“It is important to rearrange the schedule for simultaneous regional head election, simultaneous inauguration, and it is related to strengthening the presidential system and the national development system and regional development,” said legal counsel Fadli Ramadhanil at the preliminary hearing on Friday, February 23, 2024 in the plenary courtroom.

The Pilkada Law orders that the regional election be held in November 2024. The General Elections Commission (KPU) has also decided to hold it on November 27, 2024. However, the Petitioner asserted that lately there have been indications that the simultaneous regional election would be moved forward to September 2024.

It argued that the schedule for simultaneous regional election in all regions of Indonesia is an important variable of the electoral system that will affect the technical implementation of the election as well as the quality of the government formed from the election results.

It also argued that not only the technical problems of organizing the election but also the determination of the regional election schedule has a direct impact on the management of election and the quality of people’s sovereignty to determine their own governors, regents, mayors, and their deputies.

As such, the Petitioner asserted, the regional election schedule—November 27, 2024—would lead to the constitutional issue of the failure to hold an honest, fair, and democratic regional election. It is important that the Constitutional Court, it said, provide constitutional protection by reinterpreting the a quo Law and decide that the regional election be held in March 2025 and the inauguration in July 2025.

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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