PKS Sues 20 Percent Presidential Threshold To MK

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JAKARTA - The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) will submit a request for a judicial review of Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (Election Law) related to the presidential threshold of 20 percent of DPR seats or 25 percent of the national vote to the Constitutional Court (MK).

PKS attorney Zainudin Paru said the lawsuit would be registered directly with PKS President Ahmad Syaikhu and PKS Secretary General Habib Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi.

"We will officially submit the application to the Constitutional Court together with the President and the Secretary General of the PKS as Petitioner I. Meanwhile, Petitioner II Dr. Salim Segaf Al Jufri will be present at the inaugural trial," said Zainudin to reporters, Wednesday, July 6.

Zainudin explained that the lawsuit was filed as a form of PKS' moral responsibility as the party participating in the election that has the right to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates. This is done by PKS so that there will no longer be polarization or division in Indonesian society, as happened in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

"This polarization arises because of the provisions in Article 222 of the Election Law which narrow the existence of alternative presidential and vice presidential candidates. We must take this responsibility with a judicial review mechanism, especially since the Constitutional Court (MK) in its final decision stated that those who have legal standing The law for submitting this application is the political party that participated in the previous election," he explained.

Zainudin said that the PKS legal team had studied no less than 30 decisions related to the petition for judicial review on the presidential threshold in Article 222 of the Election Law. He is optimistic that the Constitutional Court will grant this request because it follows the directions contained in the previous Constitutional Court decisions.

"Although the articles being tested are the same, namely Article 222 of the Election Law, the posita, touchstones, arguments, and petitions that we have submitted are different from the previous applications and we follow the instructions given by the Constitutional Court in the previous decision," he said.

PKS believes the statesmanship of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court will be seen in deciding this case.

"We believe that the nine judges in the Constitutional Court are the best sons and daughters of the nation who have statesmanship traits, so they can also play a role in improving the current condition of a divided nation," concluded Zainudin.