Parties Urged to Accept MK Ruling

· 4 minutes read

The response to the Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling in the presidential election dispute will be an important part of Indonesia’s democracy. All parties have declared they will accept the ruling, whatever it may be.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — All involved parties have been urged to accept the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the presidential election dispute, set to be announced Thursday. The ruling is final, binding and is the result of open hearings. This should make the justices credible and trustworthy.

In a Kompas R&D poll of 539 respondents in 17 major cities from June 19 to 20, 70.5 percent of respondents believed that the court’s justices would prioritize their independence in making the ruling.

This belief in the justices’ integrity and independence is found not only among those who consistently watched or read news about the hearings on the media. More than 75 percent of respondents who only occasionally watched the hearings and 57 percent of respondents who never watched the hearings also believed that the justices would be neutral and independent.

Concerning the announcement that the ruling would be announced Thursday, all involved parties have said that they will accept the ruling, whatever it may be. This includes the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno camp as the plaintiff, the General Elections Commission (KPU) as the defendant, the Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin camp as a related party and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) as the election organizer.

The KPU has prepared several steps to follow up the court’s ruling.

No need to worry

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said on Wednesday that the public should not be worried about any issues related to the reading of the ruling this Thursday. The authorities are prepared to safeguard Jakarta.

Wiranto reaffirmed that both presidential pairs had committed to not mobilize their supporters at the court. “If there are protests, I need to know what groups they represent and what they want,” he said.

If violent riots break out this Thursday, Wiranto said that the government and the law enforcement would hunt down and arrest whoever was behind them. “The people will not protest without being coordinated. There must be those giving orders. There must provocateurs and funders. I will hunt them and find them,” he said.

Separately, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said that 2,500 to 3,000 people would hold a protest at the court this Thursday. However, he said the authorities would be able to handle them.

He said that there remained the possibility of rioters and terror groups using the protest to sow chaos. According to him, 30 alleged rioters and parts of terror groups had entered Jakarta.

“We already see them and can identify them. If something happens, we just have to take them in,” he said.

Moeldoko said that certain groups did not wish for both presidential candidates to reconcile. These groups may take it to the street to sow chaos.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said the police would not deny the people’s rights to express their opinions publicly during the presidential election dispute resolution. However, they still need to adhere to Article 6 of Law No. 9/1998 on public expression of opinions. “Protests must not be held in front of the Constitutional Court and at other spots that can disrupt the [dispute resolution]. This means that the immediate surrounds of the court must be cleared of protests,” Dedi explained.

Three possibilities

The KPU has prepared for three possibilities regarding the announcement of ruling: that the petition is rejected, approved or partially approved.

KPU lawyer Ali Nurdin said that if the court ruled in favor of Jokowi-Amin, the KPU would declare them the election winners. In line with KPU Regulation No. 7/2017, the names of the president-elect and VP-elect will be announced officially at most three days after the court’s ruling.

Similarly, if the court rules in favor of Prabowo-Sandiaga, the KPU will name them the election winners.

If the petition is partially approved, a revote may be on the table. Ali said the court usually gave 15 to 20 days to do this.

“It is entirely up to the court. Whatever the court decides, we will abide by,” Ali said.

Bawaslu member Fritz Edward Siregar said Bawaslu would be ready to carry out the court’s ruling.

Jokowi-Amin camp lawyer Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that all parties should accept the ruling.

Meanwhile, Prabowo-Sandiaga lawyer Luthfi Yazid said the court should uphold truth and justice.

“Our response to the court’s ruling will be an important step for us to become mature citizens,” Constitutional Court spokesperson Fajar Laksono said. (AGE/DVD/SAN/WAD/HLN/INK/DVD/IGA/BIM/REK)

Editor:

constitutional court General Elections Commission kompascetak