Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra Values Political Parties Remain Strong In Open Election System

Deputy Chief Justice Of The Constitutional Court, Saldi Isra, in the trial of expressing the verdict broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Constitutional Court/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Constitutional Court (MK) considers that political parties are not immediately weakened by the implementation of a proportional system of open candidate lists, as evidenced by the central role of the party in determining prospective legislative candidates for general elections (elections). "Political parties still have a central role in determining and selecting candidates for DPR / DPRD members who are seen as representing the interests, ideologies, plans and work programs of the political party concerned," said Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra in the trial of reading case decision number 114 / PUU-XX / 2022 regarding the legislative election system, at the Constitutional Court Building, Jakarta, Thursday, June 15. This statement refutes the arguments of the petitioners who think that an open proportional system weakens the role of political parties. In the context of Indonesia, history shows that the serial number of legislative candidates (caleg) is very crucial in determining victory. Saldi explained that if read carefully, the results of the general elections for DPR members in 2009, 2014, and 2019, even if they use a general election system proportional to an open list, empirically, the elected candidates are still candidates in serial number 1 and serial number 2. "Which can be interpreted as 'number of finished candidates' proposed by political parties," said Saldi. The Court quoted the results of research from the University of Indonesia's Center for Studies and Politics (Puskapol UI). In the 2009 elections, 79.1 members of the elected DPR were candidate numbers 1 and 2. In 2014, the number reached 84.3 percent. In the 2019 election, the number was 82.44 percent. "Thus, the existence of political parties is not solely determined by the choice of the general election system," he said. The Court considers the argument that political parties have lost their central role in the Indonesian political system, so it is the responsibility of political parties to strengthen their institutions as a channel of constituent aspirations. Previously, the Constitutional Court had received a request for a judicial review of Article 168 paragraph (2) of the Election Law related to an open proportional system registered with case registration number 114/PUU-XX/2022 on November 14, 2022. The six applicants are Demas Brian Wicaksono (Pemohon I), Yuwono Pintadi (Pemohon II), Fahrurrozi (Pemohon III), Ibnu Rachman Jaya (Permohon IV), Riyanto (Pemohon V), and Nono Marijono (Pemohon VI). Eight of the nine political party factions in the DPR RI also stated that they rejected the closed proportional electoral system, namely the Golkar, Gerindra, Democrat, NasDem, PAN, PKB, PPP, and PKS factions. Only one faction wants a closed proportional election system, namely the PDI-P. The Constitutional Court also stated that it rejected the petitioners' petition, so that the open proportional electoral system would still apply.

"Reject the petitioners in its entirety," said Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman when reading the verdict at the Indonesian Constitutional Court building, Central Jakarta, Thursday.