JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Election Law, which was recently passed, potentially triggers judicial reviews. If they are not immediately solved by the Constitutional Court (MK), the judicial reviews would potentially disrupt the stages of election and open possibilities for election disputes.
The judicial reviews of the law, which was passed at the House of Representatives in the early hours of Friday, may target Article 222 on the presidential threshold (20 percent of House seats or 25 percent of the popular vote). The stipulation was the most contentious article during the nine-month deliberation of the law by the House and the government.
Another stipulation that will potentially be brought to MK is the stipulation that the political parties, which passed the verification in the previous election, do not need to be verified. Article 173 potentially goes against the MK ruling in 2012, which states all political parties must be verified.
The judicial review may also target Article 235 Point (5) regarding sanction for political parties that do not nominate presidential/vice presidential candidates.
President Joko Widodo said he appreciated the passing of the law at the House. “We appreciate it and the government believes the democratic system worked well [in the deliberation process],” the President said yesterday.
If there are parties that want to file judicial reviews against the Election Law, the President allows it. “This is a law-based country and a democracy. If there are parties that are unsatisfied with the House and want to file review with the MK, please do,” the President said.
Coalition is still solid
When asked about the stance of the National Awakening Party (PAN), which is part of the pro-government coalition but opposes the voting at the House on the presidential threshold, the President said he had met with PAN leaders. PAN said it supported the government and that means the pro-government coalition remains solid.
During the voting on the presidential threshold, PAN walked out from the plenary session along with three opposition parties – the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party.
Regarding the presidential threshold and verification of political parties, which will be performed only on a new political party, the two issues will be the targets of reviews. Several new political parties, such as the Indonesia Unity Party (Perindo), the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI) and the Safe Peaceful Islamic Party (Idaman), are preparing to challenge the two stipulations.
PSI chairwoman Grace Natalie said even though it was a new political party, PSI may come up with an alternative candidate in the 2019 presidential election.
Perindo secretary general Ahmad Rofiq said his political party was preparing the judicial review against the presidential threshold. Due to the presidential threshold, Perindo will not be able to nominate its chairman Hary Tanoesoedibjo in the 2019 presidential election.
Idaman Party secretary general Ramdansyah said he has communicated with other new political parties disadvantaged by the Election Law.
Constitution and Democracy (Code) Inisiatif researcher Adelline Syahda said other issues that may trigger judicial reviews were regarding the announcement of valid votes and the announcement of survey results in the “cooling-off period.”
Former Election Bill committee chairman Lukman Edy said the judicial review process could disrupt the stages of election if it was not well prepared either by the MK or the plaintiff. Therefore, he asked all parties to take swift action, calling for the judicial review process to be solved before the election stage kicks off.
“Those who are unsatisfied, please file judicial reviews immediately. Do not file judicial reviews ahead of the election. MK must also be progressive and prioritize the cases related to the Election Law,” Lukman said.
A similar sentiment was conveyed by General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Arief Budiman. He said the judicial reviews could be handled by the MK quickly. He said the political party verification process, according to Election Law, must start 18 months before the voting, or around October 2017. Meanwhile, the announcement of political parties to contest the election will be made 14 months before the voting or in February 2018.
Regarding the issue, Arief said, a delayed MK ruling, if it changes the content of the law, would potentially disrupt the stages of election. If the verification of the political parties is disrupted, it would potentially become an object of election dispute.