MPR Chair: The Inauguration Of The Vice President As A Result Of The 2024 Election Cannot Be Tackled

Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo after attending the inauguration ceremony of the Kraton Majapahit replica in Cipayung, East Jakarta, Tuesday (7/5/2024). (Between/HO-MPR RI)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo said the inauguration of the elected president and vice president (wapres) as a result of the 2024 General Election is very difficult to be thwarted considering that the 1945 Constitution (UUD) which contains the rules for the inauguration of the president and vice president is very clear.

According to him, those who have been decided by the sovereign people should not be sued by anyone, including the Administrative Court's decision. Even according to the results of a study by the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly and the MPR State Assessment Commission, the elected presidential and vice presidential pairs that have been determined by the KPU's Decree must be strengthened by constitutional legal products in the form of a stipulation (TAP) of the MPR RI.

"So there is no loophole to postpone or cancel the inauguration of Prabowo-Gibran because the election has been completed, the Constitutional Court's decision and the KPU's decision on the results of the presidential election are clear," said the politician who is familiarly called Bamsoet in an official statement received in Jakarta, Friday.

He stated this in response to former Supreme Court Justice Gayus Lumbuun who said that the decision of the State Administrative Court (PTUN) could be taken into consideration by the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) not to appoint Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka as president and vice president of the Republic of Indonesia.

He explained that the results of the study by the State Apparatus Commission were in line with the views and opinions of constitutional law experts Prof. Yusril Izha Mahendra and Prof. Jimly Asshiddiqie that the MPR needed to issue an MPR Decree (TAP) regarding the inauguration of pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates elected as President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.

"The MPR's decision regarding the determination of the president and vice president is a conditio sine quanon (must exist) in the series of inaugurations of the president and vice president," he said.

However, he considered that after the amendment to the 1945 Constitution, there were things that were not in accordance with the 1945 Constitution in terms of procedures for the inauguration of the elected president and vice president. So, according to him, there is no MPR legal product that stipulates the president and vice president to be elected as President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.

So far, according to him, the determination has only been in the form of a General Election Commission (KPU) decision regarding the determination of pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates elected in the election, as well as the taking of oaths or promises made in the form of minutes of swearing or promises on the grounds that the president and vice president were directly elected by the people.

"The KPU only has the authority to determine the pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates elected in the election. Not to determine and inaugurate the pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates elected as presidents and vice presidents of Indonesia," he said.

For this reason, according to him, the MPR does not only inaugurate the president and vice president of the election results set by the KPU, but before the inauguration, it must begin with legal action to determine and inaugurate the president and vice president of Indonesia for a five-year term through the MPR TAP without a decision-making process again because it is only administrative.

"The elected president and vice president who were directly elected by the people based on the provisions of the KPU cannot be canceled by the MPR. The MPR is only authorized to strengthen it in the form of inauguration in the form of constitutional legal products," he said.