Bawaslu Surprised There Are Parties Want To Change The Minimum Age Limit For Presidential And Vice Presidential Candidates

Illustration of the Bawaslu Building in Central Jakarta. (Bawaslu.go.id)

JAKARTA - Member of the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) Lolly Suhenty questioned the urgency to change the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates. "The most important thing to be a common consideration, namely the urgency of the change. The urgent thing behind it," said Lolly when met in Sukabumi, West Java, Friday, August 4. He questioned whether the change in the rule was appropriate now. This is because the 2024 election process is running. "Is it appropriate to make changes in the increasingly running stage?" he said. Even so, Lolly submitted a decision related to the minimum age of the presidential and vice presidential candidates to the matter test decision filed in the Constitutional Court. "If you want a change that has the right to decide the age lawsuit, the Constitutional Court," he said, was confiscated by Antara. He emphasized that the rules governing the minimum age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates have not changed, namely Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections. The regulation states that the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates is 40 years. The three judicial review lawsuits being handled by the Constitutional Court, namely the first Case Number 29/PUU-XXI/2023 were submitted by cadre of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Dedek Prayudi. PSI asked for the minimum age limit of presidential and vice presidential candidates to be lowered from 40 years to 35 years.

Kedua, Perkara Nomor 51/PUU-XXI/2023 diajukan oleh Sekretaris Jenderal dan Ketua Umum Partai Garuda, yakni Yohanna Murtika dan Ahmad Ridha Sabhana. Ahmad Ridha diketahui merupakan adik kandung Ketua DPD Partai Gerindra DKI Ahmad Riza Patria. Partai Garuda meminta MK menetapkan batas usia capres dan cawapres tetap 40 tahun atau memiliki pengalaman sebagai penyelenggara negara.Perkara Nomor 55/PUU-XXI/2023 diajukan oleh dua kader Gerindra, yakni Wali Kota Bukittinggi Erman Safar dan Wakil Bupati Lampung Selatan Pandu Kesuma Dewangsa. Permohonan mereka sama dengan permohonan Partai Garuda.Dalam persidangan terakhir di MK pada Selasa 1 Agustus, DPR RI dan pemerintah tampak menunjukkan sinyal setuju batas minimum usia capres dan cawapres diturunkan menjadi 35 tahun atau berpengalaman sebagai penyelenggara negara.Dalam sidang tersebut, DPR diwakili anggota Komisi III dari Fraksi Partai Gerindra Habiburokhman. Sedangkan, pandangan presiden diwakili Menkumham Yasonna H Laoly dan Mendagri Tito Karnavian yang bertindak atas nama Presiden Jokowi.