Labor Party Sues Rules For Carrying Candidate Pairs In Pilkada To The Constitutional Court

Sympathizer from the Labor Party unfurled a poster of Marsinah's face during a demonstration in front of the East Java Governor's Office in Surabaya, East Java, Monday (1/5/2023). BETWEEN PHOTOS/Moch Asim/pras. (ANTARA PHOTO/MOCH ASIM)

JAKARTA - The Labor Party will submit a request for judicial review of Article 40 paragraph (3) of Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Pilkada (Pilkada Law) to the Constitutional Court (MK) because it is considered contrary to the 1945 Constitution. "We have prepared an application material to the Constitutional Court, we are just waiting for some additional applicants from the individual candidates for governor, regent, and mayor who will jointly become Applicants at the Constitutional Court," said Chairman of the Special Team for the Pilkada of the Labor Party Said Salahudin in a written statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Sunday, May 12. Article 40 paragraph (3) of the Pilkada Law stipulates that only political parties (political parties) have seats in the Regional Representative Council (DPRD) that can carry candidate pairs in the Pilkada contestation. According to the Labor Party, the rules are unconstitutional, because they are unfair. The rules are clearly unfair. Every political party that gets a vote in the 2024 DPRD General Election, both those who get a DPRD seat or those who do not get a DPRD seat, should be given the same right to propose a candidate pair,” Said said. Said said that this had actually been confirmed by the Constitutional Court 19 years ago. Based on the Constitutional Court's decision at that time, he said, since the 2005 Pilkada all political parties were allowed to propose pairs of candidates including for political parties that did not have DPRD seats, throughout political parties or coalitions of political parties, they could collect the accumulation of valid votes according to the requirements set by law. " “Dulu, in the Pilkada rules that are not simultaneous starting in 2005 –2013, the requirements for proposing candidate pairs using votes are determined at least 15 percent, so at that time all non-seat political parties can also participate in proposing candidate pairs in the Pilkada by forming a coalition,” he said. Said explained that since the stipulation of the regional elections simultaneously with the transitional provision scheme starting in 2015 –2020, there have been at least two changes to the rules. First, the threshold (threshold) for proposing candidate pairs using votes was increased from 15 percent to 25 percent. Second, changing the rules regarding political parties that are allowed to propose candidate pairs. Previously, based on the Constitutional Court's Decision, all political parties that received valid votes in the election may propose a candidate pair, but now that right is limited only to political parties that have DPRD seats. Here's the problem, ” Said said. According to him, the legislators of the Simultaneous Regional Head Elections Law should not contain norms whose substance has been canceled by the Constitutional Court. He said that the Constitutional Court had set the word “ or” on the provisions of the conditions for proposing candidate pairs to use seats or use votes, it must be interpreted as an alternative between the two choices. “ If political parties or coalitions of political parties want to carry a candidate by using a DPRD seat, please. If you want to carry it using votes, it is also allowed. This provision applies to political parties that have seats or political parties that do not have DPRD seats,” Said said.

He added, the word “ or ” according to the Constitutional Court should also be interpreted as an accommodating attitude towards the spirit of democracy that allows candidate pairs promoted by parties that do not have seats in the DPRD to participate in the Pilkada.