A lawyer for the House of Representatives dismissed Tuesday independent presidential candidates' argument that the law on presidential election violates the Constitution for restricting citizens' political right.

"It's crystal clear in the Constitution that presidential candidates are nominated by political parties," Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin told a hearing at the Constitutional Court Tuesday, referring to Article 6A (2) of the amended Constitution.

Independent candidates M. Fadjroel Rahman and Saurip Kadi and several political parties filed a judicial review of an article in Law No. 42/2008 on presidential election, which gives no room for independent candidates.

The parties include the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, the Crescent Star Party and the Democratic Reform Party.

The law says a political party or a coalition of parties which secure 20 percent of House of Representatives seats or 25 percent of popular votes in the legislative election are entitled to nominating presidential candidates.

Presidential election cannot be compared with regional elections, which since 2008 allow independent candidates to join the race, as the Constitution does not govern local elections, Lukman added.

Presidential advisor for legal affairs, Denny Indrayana, said there was nothing wrong with the electoral threshold.

just a choice of policy. The threshold is meant to help the elected president form an effective government with a strong support from both the House and the people," Denny said.

A lawyer for Fadjroel, Taufik Basari, said the law would entrust the selection of the national leader to parties, rather than the people.JP

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