Legislator Komisi II DPR Proposes Inauguration Of Regional Heads Wait For All Disputes To Be Cut Off By The Constitutional Court

Illustration- Constitutional Court Building (Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission II DPR RI Indrajaya suggested that the inauguration of regional heads be carried out after the completion of all Constitutional Court decisions related to disputes over the results of regional head elections. He considered that the inauguration must still be carried out simultaneously.

Indrajaya said, based on Presidential Decree Number 80 of 2024, the inauguration of governors and deputy governors was held simultaneously on February 7, 2025 and the inauguration of regents and deputy regents as well as mayors and deputy mayors on February 10, 2025 in the provincial capital.

According to him, Presidential Decree Number 80 of 2024 is in accordance with the Constitutional Court Decision (MK) Number 46/PUU-XXII/2024 which essentially ordered the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Pilkada to be held simultaneously.

"The problem is, of the 545 regions participating in the 2024 Pilkada, there is a request for dispute over results in the Constitutional Court in the number of 296 regions. The remaining 247 regions do not file a lawsuit. And there are two regions that will undergo re-election because the sole candidate is defeated by an empty box," said Indrajaya, Wednesday, January 22.

Regarding the trial for the dispute over the election results, Indrajaya continued, the schedule for the pronunciation of the Pilkada dispute decision in the Constitutional Court will only be held between 7'11 March 2025. This means, he said, if the inauguration schedule is based on Presidential Decree No. 80 of 2024, then the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Pilkada will not be simultaneous.

Indrajaya said that the Constitutional Court's decision was final and binding, but related to the implementation of elections and regional elections it was included in the open legal policy category. Therefore, according to him, the DPR as the author of the law can carry out consolidational engineering by making new rules based on the MK dispute schedule which just ended between 7 - 11 March 2025.

"So we propose that the inauguration of regional heads as a result of the 2024 Pilkada be carried out simultaneously until the reading of the final verdict on the election results in the Constitutional Court," he explained.

Then regarding the re-election due to the defeat of a single candidate with an Empty Box in Pangkal Pinang City and Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, which will be held on August 27, 2025. According to Indrajaya, the inauguration could not be carried out at Presidential Decree No. 80 of 2024.

He considered that it would be less strategic if he followed the Constitutional Court Decision Number 46/PUU-XXII/2024 by synchronizing his inauguration with other regional heads. This means, he said, it is better for the inauguration of these two regions to be different from those without disputes and disputes in the Constitutional Court.

"The incident in these two areas is an anomaly in the 2024 Pilkada. Therefore, it is a consequence that must be borne," he said.

Therefore, Indrajaya reminded, the two regions should pay special attention to the planned revision of the Pilkada Law. The option that can be proposed is to synchronize these two regions in the 2029 Pilkada even though the position of regional head is not even five years old.

The PKB legislator also provided notes on the implementation of the 2024 Pilkada. According to him, the schedule for the 2024 regional election stages, starting with the announcement of results, disputes in the Constitutional Court, and the agenda for non-matching inauguration showed weaknesses in the preparation of the relevant laws and regulations.

"In addition, the defeat of a single candidate by an empty box is also not anticipated, even though this experience has happened," he said.

For this reason, Indrajaya emphasized, a thorough evaluation of all regulations related to electoralism is needed. According to him, the idea of the Omnibus Law on the Political Law package can be an option, especially regarding the electoral law which is often subject to judicial reviews and experiencing tidal dismantling (legal acrobatics).

"For this, a comprehensive study and wider public tests are needed, and involve all election stakeholders," he concluded.