Court scraps articles in election law

The Constitutional Court (MK) ruled on Wednesday that former political party members cannot apply for membership in any election organizing bodies within five years of their resignation from their parties.

Justices approved petitioners’ proposal for the House of Representatives to scrap articles in the four-month-old 2011 Election Law that stipulated, among other things, that former politicians needed only resign before applying to be members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) or the General Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu).

“The articles go against the 1945 Constitution because they can jeopardize the impartiality of the KPU and Bawaslu,” justice Akil Mochtar said in the verdict.

Critics previously said that without the five-year requirement, former politicians would likely use their connections with their former political parties to cater to the interests of those parties in the poll bodies.

The petitioners, comprising 23 NGOs nationwide, also challenged one article in the law that stipulated that members of the Election Organization Disciplinary Council should include a government representative and a politician from each political party that has seats at the House.

That petition also got the nod from the court, which said memberships of government and political party representatives could undermine the integrity and impartiality of the election organization.

Hadar Nafiz Gumay, executive director of the Center of Electoral Reform (Cetro), one of the 23 NGOs, praised the verdict, saying the court was being professional by upholding the Constitution and promoting democracy.

“The ruling confirmed our allegation that lawmakers had insisted on keeping the articles [that need to be scrapped] only to satisfy their political interests, instead of ensuring a good election,” he said.