MK Should Immediately Announce Their Decision on Judicial Reviews on Article 9 of Laws 10/2016

The Constitutional Court (MK) should immediately announce their decision on the judicial reviews on Article 9 a Laws No.10/2016 regarding the obligation for members of the election management bodies to consult parliament members before they can pass their own regulations. Many election activists worry this legal uncertainty will be used by members of Commission II of the Parliament to gain political advantage during the fit and proper test to select the new members of Election Commission (KPU) and Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu).

“Currently, there is a circulating rumor that many of the candidates selected by the Special Team for Selection are supporting the idea of proposing judicial reviews on Article 9 of Laws 10/2016 to MK. It is simply not true and has nothing to do with the fit and proper test process. MK needs to immediately announce their decision on the matter,” says a researcher from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Fadli Ramadhanil, during a public discussion titled “Accelerate the Resolution for Judicial Reviews on Article 9 a Laws 10/2016” in Jakarta (02/23).

KPU argues that the obligation to consult Parliament to pass regulations is violating their independence as an election management body. Ahmar Irawan, a researcher from Correct, says, KPU and Bawaslu is constitutionally independence institutions, much like the Parliament. KPU and Bawaslu is not allowed to intervene with Parliament’s decision, and vice versa.

“KPU and Bawaslu are self-regulating institutions. This means both institutions have the authority to establish their own regulations,” says Ahmar.

According to Ahmar, the existence of Article 9 a in Laws 10/2016 shows that members of the Parliament distrust KPU and Bawaslu. In addition, it is the basic rights of Indonesian citizen to have election management bodies (EMBs) that are independent. Non-independent EMBs will only harm them anyway.