Needdem Withdraws Application For Material Tests For The Pilkada Law

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) has withdrawn a request for a judicial review of the Law on Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) submitted at the Constitutional Court (MK).

In a panel session, Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Saldi Isra, as Chair of the Panel Session, said that the Constitutional Court received an electronic letter sent by Needdem as the applicant containing the withdrawal of a request for judicial review of the Pilkada Law at 05.57 WIB.

"We, due to our prudence, want to confirm whether this withdrawal is true and why was the request withdrawn?" asked Saldi as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, March 7.

It is necessary to be represented by his attorney, Fadli Ramadhanil, who was present online, confirming that his party withdrew the request for material testing and sent the email.

"It is true that the letter was sent by principal through a legal representative regarding the withdrawal of the application. The reason is, based on the advice (of the panel of judges) and taking into account the results of the first trial, we are considering that we will re-submit it at once by mapping the national election schedule later," he said.

Saldi also stated that the Constitutional Court would discuss the withdrawal of the request at the Hakim Consultative Meeting (RPH) and the results would be informed to Needdem.

Needdem submitted a request for judicial review of Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 1 of 2015 concerning Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2014 concerning the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Laws (UU Pilkada).

In his petition, Perdem asked the Constitutional Court to provide a new meaning in the norms in Articles 201 paragraph (7), paragraph (8), and paragraph (9) so that the simultaneous vote of the regional elections be held in March 2025 and its inauguration no later than July 2025.

The reason for the request is the number of stages of the 2024 Pilkada which will intersect with the stages of the 2024 national election, which can result in complex, complicated, and irrational workload for election organizers, especially the KPU.

In addition, it is feared that the determination of the schedule for the pilkada stages will have a direct impact on the management of the election and the quality of people's sovereignty.

Therefore, Perludem stated that the determination of the schedule for the implementation of the regional elections on November 27, 2024 will raise constitutional problems, namely that the elections will not be able to be held honestly, fairly, and democratically.