Rumah Pemilu Indonesia Election Portal
The duration of 14 days when handling disputes over the results of the general election for president and vice president (pilpres) at the Constitutional Court (MK) is considered not ideal for uncovering problems with the presidential election. This was conveyed by Election Practitioner from the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (UI), Titi Anggraini. According to him, the short handling time prevented the Constitutional Court from exploring the essence of elections in accordance with constitutional election principles.
“The presidential election for national and overseas electoral districts is only 14 days away; from there, the legal policies are illogical. “In fact, open legal policies must be rational, fair, and also provide legal certainty to obtain decisions that are in accordance with the constitutional mandate,” said Titi when they met in Bogor, West Java (6/3).
According to Titi, the handling of general election results disputes (PHPU) should ideally be the same as legislative elections (pileg), namely 30 days. This is because the presidential and legislative elections are equal. However, according to him, the Constitutional Court can extend the time for handling PHPU through an interim or final decision. If that happens, Titi reminded the Constitutional Court to make solid legal arguments along with legal facts regarding the extension of PHPU handling.
“Therefore, the ball is in MK’s court.” The Constitutional Court needs to make breakthroughs and be progressive as far as it is within the guidelines of the Constitution,” explained Titi.
According to him, this is possible because the Constitutional Court has made many legal breakthroughs in an effort to present essential electoral practices in accordance with the wishes and values of the Constitution. Titi gave an example of this in the handling of regional heads’ PHPU, which delayed the implementation of the provisions regarding vote difference thresholds.
“So, I think everything depends on how far the Constitutional Court is able to present transparent and accountable trials. “Conducting examinations in a proportional, professional, and balanced evidentiary process, so that the public is able to understand the entire process,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Chief Constitutional Court Suhartoyo, even though the time is quite short, he promised to optimally maximize the 14 days. This short time limits the parties’ ability to prove the arguments in the lawsuit. So according to him, in the 2019 presidential election dispute, with a time limit of 14 days, the Constitutional Court could only invite 15 witnesses to the trial.
“We will be optimistic as long as we can do the maximum.” That’s an instrument (time limit regulations) that is beyond our capabilities,” said Suhartoyo when they met in Bogor, West Java (6/3). []
