Students of the Sharia and Law Faculty of UIN Sunan Kalijaga at a judicial review hearing of the Election Law, Tuesday (7/30/2024). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI)—The petition revision hearing for the material judicial review of Article 222 of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law) for case No. 62/PUU-XXII/2024 took place on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The petition was filed by Enika Maya Oktavia, Rizki Maulana Syafei, Faizal Nasirul Haq, and Tsalis Khoirul Fatna, who are students of the Sharia and Law Faculty of the State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga.

The petitioners presented their revised petition in a hearing led by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra. Enika Maya Oktavia (Petitioner I) stated that they have reinforced their legal standing as Indonesian citizens and voters, supported by the final voters’ list.

“To strengthen our position, we have elaborated on our constitutional grounds, highlighting the constitutional rights that are being violated, namely Article 27 paragraph (1), Article 28C paragraph (2), Article 28D paragraph (1), and Article 28I paragraph (2). These rights are infringed by the contested norms, particularly in limiting the petitioners’ options in the presidential and vice-presidential elections,” She explained.

She continued, explaining that the posita is structured into four parts: the ability to refile the petition without being ne bis in idem; how Article 222 of the Election Law contradicts Article 64 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution by distorting representation; how it exceeds the limits of open legal policy; and how it infringes on citizens’ collective development rights and legal certainty.

Also read: Four Students Challenge Limits of Open Legal Policy and Presidential Threshold

The Petitioners challenge Article 222 of the Election Law. They believe they have suffered constitutional impairment due to the enforcement of the provision on the presidential threshold, which requires presidential tickets to rally support from political parties. They believe this has harmed democracy as it restricts their right to elect a president whose political views align with theirs or restricts their political support for a presidential ticket.

They asserted that Article 222 of the Election Law has violated the limit of open legal policy with regard to morality, arguing that it has harmed the morality of democracy by allowing political party aggregates that lead to the failure of political parties to function. The principle of “one man, one vote, one value” has been disregarded by the presidential threshold. The “one value” principle is flouted because votes are not necessarily equal. Ideally, votes follow the period of the election. However, in the case of the presidential threshold, votes are used for two elections, which could lead to the distortion of representation in democracy.

Therefore, the Petitioners request that the Court declare Article 222 of the Election Law in violation of the limits of open legal policy (morality, rationality, and intolerable justice) and unconstitutional and declare the presidential threshold in said article not in line with the moral values of democracy.

Author            : Utami Argawati
Editor             : N. Rosi
PR                 : Fauzan F.
Translators     : Dzaki Difa Al Hadiid/Rizky Kurnia Chaesario (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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