The Constitutional Court Asked To Regulate The Provisions For The President Of The Election Campaign Are Only Incumbent

DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Constitutional Court was asked to regulate that Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections include the provision that the president and/or vice president may campaign in the election only when they have incumbent status and campaign for themselves.

The request is the main points of the petitioners' petition in Case Number 55/PUU-XXII/2024. In this case, they submitted a request for judicial review of Article 281 paragraph (1) and Article 299 paragraph (1) of the Election Law.

"Article 281 paragraph (1) and Article 299 paragraph (1) of the Election Law contradict the provisions of Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution because it does not guarantee recognition, guarantee, protection, and fair legal certainty as well as equal treatment before the law," said one of the applicants, La Ode Nofal, at the trial of improving the application. in the Plenary Court Session Room, Jakarta reported by ANTARA, Monday, July 22.

According to the petitioners, the provisions in the article being sued can be a way for the president and/or vice president to support or side with pairs of candidates competing in the general election of the president and vice president (pilpres).

This article is considered to be detrimental to constitutional rights if the president and/or vice president campaign for certain pairs of candidates to create an atmosphere of the presidential election that does not uphold the principles of justice and equality for other pairs of candidates.

"The campaign can affect everyone's political choices so that when it comes to the president and/or vice president who has the right to campaign, of course it must really be limited in terms of time and circumstances as to what kind of president and/or vice president can campaign," said Nofal.

The petitioners believe that the Constitutional Court has the authority to give new meaning to Article 281 paragraph (1) and Article 299 paragraph (1) of the Election Law, regardless of the subject petition that seems to ask the Constitutional Court to form a new norm whose true authority is to form a law (open legal policy).

They argued that the Constitutional Court had given an interpretation by changing the phrase in Article 169 letter q of the Election Law regarding the age requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the Constitutional Court Decision Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023.

"So it is not impossible for the Court to provide a constitutional interpretation in the a quo petition, for the sake of upholding a just state and upholding equality for all," added Nofal.

The petitioners requested that Article 281 paragraph (1) of the Election Law, which consists of numbers one and two, be added to the number three which reads the president and/or vice president must have incumbent status and campaign for himself.

Then, Article 299 paragraph (1) of the Election Law is changed to the president and the vice president has the right to carry out the campaign on the condition that he has incumbent status (incumbent) and campaigns for himself.

Case Petitioner Number 55/PUU-XXII/2024 consists of four people, namely La Ode Nofal, Arimansa Eko Putra, La Ode Arukun, and Risard Nur Fiqral.