Ardi Usman presenting the revisions to his petition against the Election Law or Case No. 124/PUU-XXIV/2026 regarding the minimum education requirements for MPs, Monday (4/27/2026). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court held the second hearing for the material review of Article 240 paragraph (1) letter e of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections on Monday, April 27, 2026. At this hearing for Case No. 124/PUU-XXIV/2026, petitioned by individual citizen Ardi Usman, the panel examined the revisions to the petition.

Before the panel consisting of Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (chair) alongside Constitutional Justices Adies Kadir and Liliek P. Adi, the Petitioner presented the revisions to the benchmark for review, by adding Article 28E, Article 28H, Article 23 paragraph (1), Article 20 paragraph (2), and Article 31 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution. He had also revised the posita (reason for the petition) and petitums (things he requests).

“The Petitioner requests that the Court declare Article 240 paragraph (1) letter e of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections against the 1945 Constitution and not legally binding if not interpreted to mean that the minimum education requirement shall be a master’s degree or equivalent,” said the Petitioner while delivering his petitum in the plenary courtroom.

Also read: Lack of Provision on Legislative Candidates’ Education Questioned

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, April 13, the Petitioner argued that as a citizen he has the constitutional right to participate in government and to equal opportunity in people’s representation. However, the lack of provisions on education requirement for legislative candidates has restricted competition in political intellect and integrity, regeneration of leadership without intellect and research, restricted his right to participate without intellect and research, restricted opportunities to join in determining public policies to fit the needs of parliament in alignment with one’s education background.

In his petition, the Petitioner explained the education background of members of parliament (MPs) in several countries. In Iran, Ukraine, and Poland, 100% of the MPs have a master’s degree. In Sweden 82 of the MPs have a bachelor’s degree. In the UK, the number of MPs with a master’s degree is 90%, while 80% of American MPs have a bachelor’s degree.

The Petitioner believes that globally, 78% of legislative members have a bachelor’s degree while 40% have a graduate degree. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s democracy is not intellectual, but an anomaly that is prone to oligarchs. Therefore, he argued, the Constitutional Court as the Guarding of the Constitution has a moral responsibility to break the anomaly.

Explore case No. 124/PUU-XXIV/2026  (in Indonesian).

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : N. Rosi
PR            : Raisa Ayuditha Marsaulina
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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