In Front Of The Constitutional Court Justices, Lieus Sungkharisma Says Fewer Candidates Can Create Sharp Hostility

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The petitioner for case Number 5/PUU-XX/2022 for reviewing the material of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections, Lieus Sungkharisma, conveyed the difficulty of participating in the election to the Panel of Judges of the Constitutional Court (MK).

"I have my own experience in 1998 or during the May riots. I once created a noble party", said Lieus Sungkharisma at a follow-up session with an agenda for improving the petition which was broadcast virtually, Thursday, February 3, quoted from Antara.

Lieus founded the Chinese-Indonesian Reform Party. In fact, the party is already legally registered with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"To take part in the election is not easy. Every region, province, the district must have a branch", he said.

Despite having obtained a permit from the government, in this case, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the fact is that the Chinese-Indonesian Reform Party is not strong enough to take part in the election because of the tough conditions set by the organizers.

Therefore, to be fairer, through the judicial review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections, Lieus hopes that the panel of judges can consider it.

According to him, the provision for the 20 percent threshold or the presidential threshold is very difficult, especially for political parties that want to nominate a presidential candidate.

"With two pairs of candidates, the hostility will be sharper, the trade will be difficult", he said.

In his petition, he asked the panel of judges to grant the petitioner's request in its entirety. Second, it states that Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and does not have binding legal force.

Furthermore, ordering the publication of the decision in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia, or if the panel of judges has another opinion, it is requested to give a fair decision.

Meanwhile, the Panel of Judges of the Constitutional Court, Arief Hidayat, said he would immediately report the improvement of the applicant's application to the judges' meeting regarding the follow-up.

"Mr. Lieus is just waiting for news of the continuation of this application from the clerk", said Judge Arief Hidayat.