The Constitutional Court hearing the revision of the Pilkada Law petition online, Monday (12/8/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ilham WM.

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Jakarta, MKRI—The Constitutional Court held a revision hearing of Petition No. 99/PUU-XXII/2024 on the material judicial review of Article 7 paragraph (3) letter e of Law No. 10 of 2016 (Pilkada Law). The petition was submitted by Surakarta resident Aufaa Luqmana Rea. In his revision, the Petitioner deleted Kaesang Pangarep’s name.

"We will comply with the advice of the Honorable Panel of Justices of the Constitutional Court to remove the title 'Kaesang Prohibited from Becoming Governor' and also to delete Kaesang's name from the materials of the petition," said the petitioner's legal counsel, Dwi Nurdiansyah Santoso, who attended the hearing via video conference on Monday, August 12, 2024.

In the previous petition, there was the sentence "Kaesang Prohibited from Becoming Governor" just below the subject on the first page. Several times, the Petitioner also mentioned Kaesang's name, which is considered to benefit from the provisions of the norms of Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e of the Pilkada Law regarding the interpretation of the minimum age limit to become a regional head.

Also read: Minimum Age for Regional Head Candidates Questioned

During the preliminary hearing, 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.

The Petitioner believes there is no legal certainty on the minimum age for regional head candidates due to multiple interpretations. He said 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 that Kaesang Pangarep, son of President Joko Widodo, born on December 25, 1994, is yet to fulfill the required age to run for governor/vice governor election. 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 meet 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.

Hence, Petitioner, on his petitum, asked the Court to interpret Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e regarding the minimum age of regional head candidates to be counted since the day of voting. Although the Petitioner acknowledged that the article is an open legal policy or policy of the legislator to determine rules that are not regulated by the Constitution.

Author: Mimi Kartika.

Editor: N. Rosi.

PR: Fauzan F.

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario/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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