Legal counsel Nur Rizqi Khafifah at the petition revision hearing of the judicial review of the Regional Election Law, Tuesday (10/8/2024). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Petitioners of case No. 122/PUU-XXII/2024 argued that it is important to regulate the length and schedule of leave of absence for regional heads running for reelection in the Pilkada Law, by taking into account the implementation of regional governments. Moreover, upon close observation of the minutes of the meetings to discuss the formation of Law No. 10 of 2016, there is no argument for the abolishment of the provision on the length and schedule of leave of absence in Article 70 paragraph (3).

“This shows a strong reason for the Constitutional Court to interpret the provision of Article 70 paragraph (3),” said the Petitioners’ legal counsel Nur Rizqi Khafifah at the petition revision hearing on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

The Petitioners believe that the regulation of leave of absence for campaigning in Law No. 10 of 2016 on Regional Elections that does not match that in Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections has resulted in Article 70 paragraph (3) of Law No. 10 of 2016 contradicting Article 22E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution, given that the general election and the regional head election belong to the same election regime.

Also read: Incumbent Regional Head’s Leave of Absence Questioned

By taking into account the task of implementing regional governments, the arrangement of the length and schedule of leave of absence serves prevents incumbent regional heads from misusing facilities awarded to their positions for the benefit of election campaign and to ensure that the implementation of regional governments run well and not hindered by a mandatory two-month leave of absence during election campaign. Strict supervision and sanctions from the authorized institutions are needed to implement the prohibition of using facilities related to their positions and to support the enforcement of Article 70 paragraph (3) of the Pilkada Law.

Article 70 paragraph (3) of the Pilkada Law reads, “Governor and Vice Governor, Regent and Vice Regent, and Mayor and Vice Mayor who run for reelection in the same region, must meet the following requirements during campaign period: a. being on unpaid leave; and b. not using any state facilities awarded to the position.” In the petitums, the Petitioner requested that the Court interpret the a quo article as, “Governor and Vice Governor, Regent and Vice Regent, and Mayor and Vice Mayor who run for reelection in the same region, must meet the following requirements during campaign period: a. being on unpaid leave; b. the arrangement of the duration and schedule of the leave of absence shall take into account the implementation of the duties of the regional government; and c. not using any state facilities awarded to the position.”

The petition was filed by Harseto Setyadi Rajah, an advocate. At the petition revision hearing, it was revealed that two entrepreneurs have joined as petitioners, i.e. Agus Surahmat and I Gede Yogantara Teguh Eko Wijaya.

“To reinforce [the petition] so that [the petitioner] is not only one, Your Honors. [The Petitioners] reside in different regions,” Nur Rizqi said.

Author            : Mimi Kartika
Editor             : Lulu Anjarsari P.
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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