The Constitutional Court Rejects The Gelora Party's Lawsuit Regarding Elections

Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman. (Instagram MK)

JAKARTA - The panel of judges of the Constitutional Court (MK) rejected the lawsuit or request for a review of Law (UU) Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections by the Indonesian People's Wave Party (Gelora).

"Reject the applicant's application in its entirety," said Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman when reading out the verdict of case Number 35/PUU-XX/2022 which was broadcast by the Court virtually in Jakarta, Thursday, July 7.

The review of the Election Law was proposed by the Gelora Indonesia Party, represented by Anis Matta as General Chair of the Gelora Party and Mahfuz Sidik as Secretary General of the Indonesian Gelora Party.

In the main point of his petition, citing Antara, the applicant argues that Article 167 paragraph (3) and Article 347 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections are contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The applicant's arguments, among others, relate to the model of simultaneous election administration.

The Court through the Constitutional Court's decision Number 14/PUU-XI/2013 which was pronounced in January 2014 and the Constitutional Court's decision Number 55/PUU-XVII/2019 which was pronounced on 26 February 2020 has considered the original intent as the basis for simultaneous elections.

According to the petitioner, there was no original intent for the simultaneous election because it was never a joint decision by members of the ad hoc committee and the Working Body of the MPR RI. Thus, the use of the original intent method by the court in determining simultaneous elections has no historical basis.

Therefore, the applicant is of the opinion that the 2024 General Election to elect members of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD could be earlier than the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections.

Based on these reasons, the applicant requests that the court declare the phrase "simultaneously" in Article 167 paragraph (3) and Article 347 paragraph (1) of Law Number 7 of 2017 which is contrary to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and has no binding legal force.

This is so long as the election of members of the DPR, DPD, President/Vice President, and DPRD as of the 2024 Election onwards is not held on the same day. Elections for the President and Vice President are held after the determination of the votes and seats in the DPR.

At the trial, it was discovered that the constitutional reason for the a quo petition was that the holding of simultaneous elections in 2024 which would be held on the same day prevented the applicant from proposing a presidential/vice presidential candidate pair.