The Petitioner attending a material judicial review hearing of the Election Law for case No. 58/PUU-XXII/2024, Wednesday (7/24/2024). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Petitioner of Case No. 58/PUU-XXII/2024 has amended his petition for the material judicial review of Article 415 paragraph (3) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law). In his petition, the Petitioner asks the Constitutional Court (MK) to declare that Article 415 paragraph (3) of the Election Law in conflict with Article 1 paragraph (2) and Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and not have binding legal force for the 2024 legislative election.
The Petitioner argues that the sovereignty of the people should be realized through a general election system that appoints candidates based on the highest number of votes. Hence, the elected members of the Provincial and Regency/City Representative Councils (DPRD) should be determined based on the highest public support, embodying the people’s sovereignty as mentioned in Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, not based on party votes divided by the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. (Sainte Laguë).
The Sainte Laguë method may cause election participants to lose their seat allocation, as votes in the second stage are divided by three, leading to voter disenfranchisement. This calculation fails to provide certainty for election participants, thus contradicting Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.
“Several candidates elected for the Tegal City DPRD from the Tegal City 1 electoral district received fewer votes than the Petitioner. Therefore, the appointment of the elected candidates should be based on the highest number of votes (majority principle) as a manifestation of the principles of people’s sovereignty and justice,” said legal counsel Mohammad Sonhaji Akbarat at a petition revision hearing on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 in the plenary courtroom.
The panel hearing was chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, accompanied by Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and Arsul Sani. Before closing the session, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra noted that the petition would be taken to the justice deliberation meeting (RPH), where the justices will discuss the case and decide whether to proceed with it.
Also read: Failed to Run for DPRD, Candidate Challenges Seat-Counting Method
Abdul Basir, a DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) candidate of Tegal City in the 2024 election, questions the seat-counting method for the provincial and regency/city DPRD election. He had earned 2,186 valid votes in the electoral district of Tegal City 1, or the second highest votes within PKB (National Awakening Party). However, PKB only earned one vote based on the method stipulated in the a quo article out of the nine seats in said electoral district.
Therefore, the Petitioner failed to get a seat. He feels his constitutional right to be elected as a legislative candidate was harmed as candidates of other parties with fewer votes earned received a seat in the Tegal City DPRD based on that provision.
“It is not fair to the Petitioner, Dr. Abdul Basir, who earned more votes,” said legal counsel Mohammad Sonhaji Akbar before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and Asrul Sani at the preliminary hearing for case No. 58/PUU-XXII/2024 on Thursday, July 11, 2024 in the plenary courtroom.
The Petitioner asserted that the article, which reads “In allocating seats for Provincial DPRD and Regency/City DPRD members, the valid votes collected by every contesting political party shall be divided by the electoral divisor number 1, followed by other odd numbers in order, which are 3, 5, 7, and so on,” is contrary to the principle of popular sovereignty as stated in Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945, which should be implemented through general elections where elected candidates are determined based on the most votes, not based on party votes divided by odd numbers, or the Sainte-Laguë method.
Author : Mimi Kartika
Editor : N. Rosi
PR : Raisa Ayuditha Marsaulina
Translator : Dzaki Difa Al Hadiid/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.
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 | 16:03 WIB 58