Petitioner in the judicial review of the Election Law M. Subhan explaining several revisions to his petition before the panel of constitutional justices during the petition revision hearing, Wednesday (2/11/2026). Photo by MKRI/Ilham WM.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) once again convened a judicial review hearing on Law No. 7 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2022 Amending Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law) on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at the Panel Courtroom of the Constitutional Court.

In the hearing presided over by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih, Subhan (the Petitioner) stated that he had revised his petition. Among the revisions were refinements to the “subject” section and the posita (legal arguments).

“The substance of the petition essentially concerns Article 169 letters b and r, which have been enforced without authentication or factual verification. This has resulted in legal uncertainty, as experienced by the Petitioner,” Subhan explained.

Also read:
Election Law Review: Factual Verification of Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates

For the record, Subhan, an Indonesian citizen, filed a petition for judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2022 Amending Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections. The petition is registered as Case No. 36/PUU-XXIV/2026. He questions the constitutionality of Article 169 of the Election Law, arguing that it creates legal uncertainty because it does not mandate authentication and/or factual verification of the subjective requirements for candidates for public office, particularly presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

“The Petitioner, as an Indonesian citizen living in a state governed by the rule of law, does not obtain legal certainty from the enactment of Article 169, which applies without prior authentication and/or factual verification of the requirements contained therein,” he stated during the preliminary hearing at the Court on Thursday, January 29, 2026.

In his petition, Subhan noted that he had previously filed a lawsuit with the Central Jakarta District Court challenging the citizenship status of the 2024–2029 presidential candidate, Anies Rasyid Baswedan.

He also filed an unlawful act claim (perbuatan melawan hukum/PMH) with the Central Jakarta District Court against Gibran Rakabuming Raka as the 2024–2029 vice-presidential candidate. According to the Petitioner, Gibran did not meet the educational requirement stipulated in Article 169 letter r of the Election Law.

Additionally, the Petitioner referred to an issue involving the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who has been alleged to have used a falsified diploma in several public office contests, from his tenure as Mayor of Surakarta to his presidency. The Petitioner asserted that the absence of definitive legal certainty regarding the authenticity of the diploma further underscores the necessity of factual verification of the subjective requirements for candidates for state office.

Based on these arguments, the Petitioner requests the Court to declare Article 169 of the Election Law contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia insofar as it is not interpreted to require mandatory authentication and/or factual verification. He also petitions the Court to order lawmakers to incorporate an explicit factual verification norm into Article 169 to prevent legal uncertainty and to order the publication of the ruling in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia.

Explore case No. 36/PUU-XXIV/2026 (in Bahasa Indonesia)

Author : Utami Argawati
Editor : N. Rosi
Translator : Yuanna Sisilia

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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