The Petitioner attending the preliminary judicial review hearing of the Pilkada Law on the support for regional head candidates, Tuesday (7/2/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Ahmad Farisi (researcher), A. Fahrur Rozi (constitutional law student at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta), and Abdul Hakim (advocate), who have been active in regional CSOs, are challenging Article 41 paragraph (1) letters a, b, c, d, e and Article 41 paragraph (2) letters a, b, c, d, e 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) against the 1945 Constitution in the Constitutional Court (MK).

Abdul Hakim stated that the Petitioner could help nominate independent candidates in the regional head election. At the preliminary hearing for case No. 43/PUU-XXII/2024, the Petitioners would like the opportunity to nominate independents unaffiliated with political parties, as per their constitutional right protected by Article 28D paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution.

“With the implementation of this norm, it is difficult for the Petitioners to find alternative candidates because all candidates running in the regional election are proposed by political parties. This is clearly contrary to the 1945 Constitution for clearly violating morality and the constitutional right to equal status, legal certainty, and ease of access to the rights regulated in the law. In addition, the implementation of percentage of initial support required for the nomination of independent candidates is very irrational in terms of providing a sense of justice and equality before the law,” he explained before Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, M. Guntur Hamzah, and Ridwan Mansyur on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioners request that the Court grant the entire petition and declare Article 41 paragraph (1) letters a, b, c, d, and e of the Pilkada Law unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as “Independent candidates can register as candidates for Governor and Vice Governor if they meet the requirements of support from civil society organizations or associations that are registered and verified by at least five local Governors/Regents/Mayors, each of whom spreads across five regencies/cities.”

Justices’ Advice

Justice Guntur advised the Petitioners to clarify and reinforce their legal standing on running for local office, whether independently or through a political party. “How can we talk about substance if the constitutional impairment is only argued as an idea. It should at least be potential, so that the Petitioners’ position with the implementation of the norm can be seen,” he said.

Meanwhile, Justice Ridwan Mansyur highlighted the Petitioners’ argument that CSOs may be harmed in the nomination of regional head candidates.

“Will those CSOs also vote in the regional election? The legal standing must be clarified here—what the indicators are. Please convince the Court of your stance in this case,” he said.

Next, Justice Foekh reminded the Petitioners to present a comparison with other countries where CSOs or social communities are given the opportunity to nominate regional head candidates. “Upon observation, the 1945 Constitution has separated that DPR members must [be nominated by] political parties, while regional heads initially must be from political parties and now there could be independent candidates. Now, the Petitioners would like to propose another way, so please explain your arguments to convince the Court,” he said.

At the end of the hearing, the panel of justices gave the Petitioners 14 days to revise the petition.

Author              : Sri Pujianti
Editor               : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                   : Raisa Ayuditha
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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