Petitioner Doni Istyanto Hari Mahdi (right) with legal counsels Aldi Indra Setiawan (center) and Edward Dewaruci (left) at a preliminary hearing for the judicial review of the Regional Election Law, Wednesday (10/9/2024). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held another material judicial review hearing of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law) on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. This time, the petition was filed by artist M. Taufik Hidayat and consultant Doni Istyanto Hari Mahdi. In case No. 139/PUU-XXII/2024, the Petitioners question Article 54D paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Pilkada Law.

Article 54D paragraph (1) reads, “The provincial or regency/city KPU shall certify 1 (one) elected candidate pair in the election as referred to in Article 54C if they earn more than 50% (fifty percent) of all valid votes.” Article 54D paragraph (2) reads, “In the event that the candidate pairs earned fewer votes than those referred to in paragraph (1), the losing candidate pairs may run in the next election.”

The Petitioners’ legal counsel Aldi Indra Setiawan stated that the article is in violation of Article 1 paragraphs (2) and (3), Article 18 paragraph (4), Article 27 paragraph (1), Article 28C paragraph (2), and Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution as it regulates the validation procedure for votes earned by single candidates versus an empty column in elections. The Petitioners believe it could provide a legal loophole for an undemocratic regional election contrary to that under Article 18 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution.

“The Petitioners could potentially have their constitutional rights impaired if the implementation of the a quo article is used as a legal loophole to promote only one candidate pair. Political parties that are obligated to implement the Politics Law cannot be left to eliminate the Petitioners’ constitutional rights under the Pilkada Law if the implementation is used to deliberately keep elections only for a single candidate pair,” said Aldi before Constitutional Justices Asrul Sani (panel chair), Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, and Ridwan Mansyur in a panel courtroom.

Petitums

In one of the petitums, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 54D paragraph (1) unconstitutional if not interpreted as, “The provincial or regency/city KPU shall certify the elected candidate pair in in the election of 1 (one) candidate pair as referred to in Article 54C if they earn more than 50% (fifty percent) votes of those in the final voters list (DPT).”

They also requested that the Court declare Article 54D paragraph (2) unconstitutional if not interpreted as, “In the event that the candidate pairs earned fewer votes than those referred to in paragraph (1), the losing candidate pairs are prohibited from running in the next election.”

Constitutional Impairment

Constitutional Justice Ridwan Mansyur advised the Petitioners to explain their loss due to the enforcement of the article being reviewed. “This must be elaborated so it wouldn’t only be mere assumption,” he said.

Next, Constitutional Justice Asrul Sani advised them to study decisions relating to the Pilkada Law, especially the article being reviewed. “Find Decision No. 14/PUU-XVII/2019 and [case] No. 139/PUU-XXII/2024. Are there overlapping reasons or touchstones? If not, it is possible to maintain this case,” he said.

Before adjourning the hearing, Justice Arsul said that the Petitioners would have 14 days to revise the petition and submit it by Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 09:00 WIB to the Registrar’s Office. The Court will then schedule a hearing to examine the petition revisions.

Author         : Sri Pujianti
Editor          : N. Rosi
PR               : Tiara Agustina
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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