DPR Guarantees There Will Be No Secret Ratification Of The Pilkada Bill

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco Ahmad during a press conference at the parliament complex, Jakarta, Thursday (22/8/2024). (ANTARA/Good Ahmad Rizaldi)

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, guarantees that there will be no agenda for ratifying the Pilkada Bill (RUU) secretly after it is canceled at the plenary meeting on Thursday morning.

Dasco said that according to the rules of order, plenary meetings can only be held on Tuesday or Thursday.

Thus, according to him, there will be no ratification of the Pilkada Bill to the registration of regional head candidates in the Pilkada on August 27, 2024.

"Therefore, in accordance with the applicable mechanism; if you want another plenary session, you must follow the stages regulated in accordance with the rules in the DPR," Dasco said during a press conference, Thursday, August 22.

In addition, according to him, the meetings held in the DPR are open and broadcast live on the DPR's social media channel.

Including he said, the DPR RI Legislation Body (Baleg) meeting which discussed the Pilkada Bill on Wednesday (21/8) was also open and can be witnessed by the public.

This means that said Dasco, the conditions that have been contained in the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the nomination threshold and the minimum age limit for candidates will apply to the upcoming Pilkada registration.

"Because the Pilkada Bill has not been passed into law, what applies is the decision of the Constitutional Court, a judicial review submitted by the Labor Party and the Gelora Party," he said.

In addition, he said that the Pilkada Bill did not roll out in the DPR.

This is because the legislative process against the bill, according to him, has been carried out since January 2024, but slowly.

Even so, he said the Pilkada Bill has the potential to be discussed after the stages of the 2024 Pilkada are completed. Because the DPR also considers that the mechanism in the Pilkada or Election needs to be refined.

"Therefore, there is a parliament threshold lawsuit from the Needdem that needs to be accommodated," he said, quoted by ANTARA.

The Pilkada Bill reaps the pros and cons because it is considered briefly discussed on Wednesday (21/8) by the Legislation Body of the DPR RI. The reason is that the discussion is deemed not in accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision which was decided on Tuesday (20/8) regarding the conditions for nomination in the Pilkada.

Then the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the DPR During the First Session of the 2023 Session Year 2024 with the agenda of ratifying the Pilkada Bill which was planned to be held on Thursday morning, was canceled and rescheduled because the number of meeting participants did not meet the quorum.