Rumah Pemilu Indonesia Election Portal
Constitutional law expert Bivitri Susanti assesses that the logic of Supreme Court (MA) Decision No. 23P/HUM/2024 is unreasonable. The judges should decide on this decision by examining Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d of General Election Commission Regulation (PKPU) No. 9 of 2020 regarding the Pilkada Law (UU), not the Basic Law. Article 7 paragraph (2) letter of Regional Election Law No. 10 of 2016 regulates the requirements for candidates for governor and deputy governor to be at least 30 years old.
“The reason why judges (the minimum requirement of 30 years) have been postponed until after the inauguration of the gubernatorial candidate is, firstly, because judges view the 1945 Constitution as usually focusing on their position. So, if the measure is the Constitution, the place is in the Constitutional Court (MK). “That is something that is inappropriate and unreasonable for the Supreme Court to reason about,” stressed Bivitri in the online discussion “Criticizing the Supreme Court’s Decision on the Age of Regional Head Candidates,” which was broadcast via the KBR News YouTube account on Wednesday (5/6).
Another strange thing stated by Bivitri was that the Supreme Court judge’s argument was that the KPU had not implemented the original intent of the Regional Election Law to provide opportunities for young people to lead. However, there is no explanation in the decision that explains the original intent of the Regional Election Law.
“But if you read the decision, there is no explanation from the Supreme Court as to where he found the intentions of young people in the Regional Election Law. And it’s not logical; if you move it forward or backward by three months, someone who was previously young will no longer be young. “There is no explanation for that in the decision,” explained Bivitri.
Supreme Court Decision No. 23P/HUM/2024 decided that the minimum age requirement of 30 years at the time of determining the candidate pair (paslon) for governor and deputy governor should be changed to that at the time of the inauguration of the elected candidate pair. This decision ordered that PKPU No. 9 of 2020 be cancelled.
According to Bivitri, there is a strong suspicion that this decision was made to allow President Joko Widodo’s son, Kaesang Pangarep, to run as a candidate for deputy governor of DKI Jakarta. Gibran will be 30 years old on December 25, 2024. Meanwhile, registration of prospective governor and deputy governor candidates in the 2024 regional elections will take place on August 27–29, 2024.
“If you look closely, there is only a slight difference of 3 months in Kaesang. Kaesang’s 30th birthday will be in December 2024. The schedule for determining the candidates is December 22. Try looking for another candidate who is that thin. “I don’t think we will find it,” concluded Bivitri. []
