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Groups file for judicial reviews on single-ticket candidacies
Political analysts, regional head candidates and activists filed for three separate judicial reviews with the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, calling for an amendment of the Regional Elections Law to allow regions with only one ticket to go ahead with balloting in the Dec
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olitical analysts, regional head candidates and activists filed for three separate judicial reviews with the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, calling for an amendment of the Regional Elections Law to allow regions with only one ticket to go ahead with balloting in the Dec. 9 local elections.
The three lawsuits were filed by two political communications experts, Effendi Gazali from the University of Indonesia and Yayan Sakti Suryandaru from Surabaya's Airlangga University, and by Wisnu Sakti Buana, the running mate of popular Surabaya mayor Tri 'Risma' Rismaharini, and 30 residents of Surabaya.
The three groups consider that Articles 49, 50, 51, 52 and 54 under Law No. 8/2015 on regional elections have failed to accommodate people's constitutional right to vote and to run for office and said they could cause material losses for candidates who have registered themselves for the local elections.
In their petition Effendi and Yayan proposed a balloting system that would allow voters to choose between available pairings and an empty box.
Effendi based their argument on Article 43 of Law No. 39/1999, which guaranteed people's constitutional rights to vote and to run for office.
'Therefore, a delayed election is not a choice because we will not know what the public thinks of certain candidates. Even if the empty box wins we'll know the actual electability of certain candidate,' Effendi said, adding that if a ticket should lose to an empty box, then the election organizer could have another balloting in 2017 as mandated by the current law.
Effendi also called on the court to revoke the articles in the Regional Elections Law to avoid similar delays in future simultaneous elections.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has decided to delay balloting in four regions until 2017 since they only have one pair of candidates each.
The regions are Blitar in East Java, Timor Tengah Utara in East Nusa Tenggara, Tasikmalaya in West Java and Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara.
The election body decided to give the go-ahead for balloting in 81 regions that have two tickets.
The 81 regions with only two pairings include Surabaya municipality, where Wisnu is to run as a mate for incumbent Tri 'Risma' Rismaharini.
Wisnu's lawyer, Edward Dewaruci, said that the government should uphold his client's right to run for office and respect the results of his party's long internal selection process, which resulted in his nomination.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Sholeh, the lawyer for the 30 Surabaya residents, also proposed an empty box method. However, the group proposed that the only ticket in the race should be declared winner even if the empty box gets more votes.
'Let's follow the local wisdom that had been applied in electing the heads of villages. They have been using this system for decades. At least this will allow people to gauge candidates' electability,' Sholeh said.
Presiding judge Patrialis Akbar responded to the petitions by calling them to complete their paperwork by Sept. 1.
Contacted separately, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said that he would allow the Constitutional Court to make its own decision.
'Go ahead; we'll wait for their ruling,' he said Wednesday. (rbk)
