Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco Ahmad confirmed that the ratification of the revised Pilkada Bill would not be implemented and the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling on the Pilkada would apply.
“With the revision of the Pilkada Law not being ratified on August 22 today, what will apply at the time of registration on August 27 is the result of the Constitutional Court's Judicial Review (JK) decision submitted by the Labor Party and the Gelora Party,” Dasco told reporters.
Dasco emphasized that the plenary session can only be held on Thursday and Tuesday. So it is impossible for the DPR to pass the Pilkada Bill on Tuesday next week or on the Pilkada registration day. The discussion, he added, will be held in the next DPR session, which means the changes will not apply to this year's election.
The ratification of the Pilkada Bill was originally planned to take place at a Plenary Meeting on Thursday morning (22/8). However, the meeting had to be postponed because the number of members present physically and online did not meet the quorum.
Dasco denied having consulted with President Joko Widodo before the DPR decided to cancel the revision of the Regional Head Election Law. According to him, there was no urgency to meet Joko Widodo before the cancellation.
The plan to revise the Regional Election Law by the DPR and the ignoring of the Constitutional Court's decision has drawn a wave of protests in various regions. Various groups of people took to the streets, including celebrities and public figures. figures also voiced their concerns over the plan to revise the Regional Election Law. Actor Reza Rahardian was among those who took part in the demonstration in front of the DPR/MPR building, Jakarta. Reza even got into the command car and delivered a speech. Reza said he could not remain silent seeing democracy and the constitution being played around with.
“Seeing how the Constitutional Court is trying to restore its image and today we have received a decision that we really respect from the Constitutional Court, they are still trying to rob it,” said Reza Rahardian.
In addition to the demonstration at the DPR, a number of professors, scholars, and 98 activists also delivered statements of position in front of the Constitutional Court. Their statements were read by political expert from Jakarta State University Ubeidilah Badrun.
“Indonesian democracy is experiencing setbacks. Even the foundations of democracy have been torn apart by power. A number of empirical events have shown the truth of this conclusion. Through the practice of power which some scientists call autocratic legalism,” he said.
Ubeidilah gave examples of empirical events, including the revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission Law in 2019, the ratification of the Job Creation Law in 2020, and the Constitutional Court Decision Number 90 of 2023 which allows Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, to run as a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election.
He also mentioned a number of repressions against academic activists, labor activists, environmental activists, and so on. Moreover, he continued, human rights violations (HAM) were not resolved and even many new human rights violations occurred.
The coalition of academics and activists also stated that the Constitutional Court must stand up to uphold and uphold democracy. They asserted that the people are ready to move to save democracy in Indonesia.
In a press conference at his office, the Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Mochammad Afifuddin said that his party had followed up on the Constitutional Court's decision by sending a letter to the DPR to discuss it together.
Previously, the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) and the government agreed to continue discussing the Draft Law on the Fourth Amendment to Law Number 1 of 2015 or the Regional Election Bill at a plenary meeting of the DPR in order to be ratified into law.
Eight factions in the DPR RI Legislation Body stated their agreement on further discussion of the Pilkada Bill. The eight factions include Gerindra, Demokrat, Golkar, PKS, NasDem, PAN, PKB and PPP, while the PDI Perjuangan faction stated their rejection of the discussion of the Pilkada Bill to be enacted.
There are two crucial materials in the Pilkada Bill that were agreed upon in the Pilkada Bill Working Committee Meeting which have sparked controversy.
First, regarding the adjustment of Article 7 of the Regional Election Law regarding the age requirements for candidates in accordance with the Supreme Court (MA) decision. Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e states that the minimum age limit for gubernatorial candidates and deputy gubernatorial candidates is 30 years, while for regent candidates and deputy regent candidates and mayoral candidates and deputy mayoral candidates is 25 years, calculated from the inauguration of the elected pair.
In fact, the Constitutional Court in its legal considerations of Decision Number 70/PUU-XXII/2024, emphasized that the calculation of the age requirements for regional head candidates must be calculated from the time the candidate pair is determined, not when the elected candidate pair is inaugurated as regional head.
Second, regarding the nomination threshold. Baleg stated that the limit of party or party coalition vote acquisition of 6.5 to 10 percent to be able to nominate candidates in the regional elections only applies to political parties without seats in the DPRD. The nomination threshold for parties with seats in the DPRD, according to Baleg, is 20 percent of the number of seats in the council or 25 percent of the valid votes. (fw/ab)
