Aufaa Luqmana Rea conveying his judicial review petition of the Regional Election Law at a preliminary hearing on Monday (8/5/2024). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Aufaa Luqmana Rea, a Surakarta resident, has filed a material judicial review petition of Article 7 paragraph (2) letter 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). He believes there is no legal certainty on the provision on the minimum age for regional head candidates due to multiple interpretations.

“Currently, there are too many interpretations of 30-year [minimum] age for governors and vice governors, [calculated based on] the date of inauguration, registration, certification, and voting. For that reason, [I] have filed a judicial review petition to the Constitutional Court to obtain legal certainty that the provisions of 30-year [minimum] age for governors and vice governors [be calculated based on] the time of voting,” he said virtually at the hearing on Monday, August 5, 2024

He said that the ambiguous provision has been used to nominate candidates for governors who have not met the age requirement to run for governor and vice governor in 2024. He mentioned Kaesang Pangarep, son of President Joko Widodo born on December 25, 1994.

If the General Elections Commission (KPU) starts registration of candidates on August 27-29 this year, Kaesang will be 29 years old and thus not meeting the provision of Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e. The Petitioner asserted that the word “candidates” in the article means that the provision applies to the registration of candidates or the day of voting. If the word were interpreted to refer to the date of inauguration, it would have to correspond with the phrase “candidates-elect.”

Meanwhile, the KPU through its regulation (PKPU) interprets the age of candidates for governor and vice governor to be calculated based on the inauguration of the candidates-elect pending the Supreme Court decision that reinterprets said regulation. On the other hand, the inauguration dates of regional heads differ because the end to the terms of office of their predecessors also differ.

“The KPU faces uncertainty and confusion in determining the age [of regional head candidates based on] the date of inauguration, as evidenced by the different statements of KPU chairman Hasyim Asyari when he was still in office, before he was dismissed for sexual misconduct,” the Petitioner said.

In his petitum, the Petitioner requests that the Court declare Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e of the Pilkada Law unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as, “be at least 30 (thirty) years old for candidates for Governor and candidates for Vice Governor, and 25 (twenty-five) years old for candidates for Regent and Vice Regent and candidates for Mayor and Vice Mayor, counted on the day of voting for the candidate pairs.”

Justices’ Advice

The hearing for case No. 99/PUU-XXII/2024 was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat and Asrul Sani. Justices Arsul and Arief highlighted the petition’s title, which reads, “Kaesang Banned from Becoming a Governor.”

“The petition’s title ‘Kaesang Banned from Becoming a Governor’ should be removed,” said Justice Arsul.

Meanwhile, Justice Arief said the petition must fulfill the elements of propriety, rationality, and decency. He asserted that the provocative title was unusual and should not be used.

“Please remove provocative [the title]. A petition should not be like this, as if trying to provoke Indonesians or the justices to decide as requested. This is not appropriate. In Indonesia, abiding by the law must be in line with Pancasila characters,” he explained.

Before adjourning the hearing, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra announced that the Petitioner would have 14 days to revise the petition and must submit a revised petition by August 19, 2024 at 11:00 WIB.

Author            : Mimi Kartika
Editor             : N. Rosi
PR                 : Fauzan F.
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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