TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
KPU to challenge Regional Elections Law
Change Size
Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly (right) chats with Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi (center) and General Election Commission (KPU) chairman Husni Kamil Manik before a limited Cabinet meeting on the Regional Elections Law revision at the Presidential Office on May 31. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
T
he General Elections Commission (KPU) plans to file for a judicial review at the Constitutional Court to challenge the revised 2015 Regional Elections Law passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) early this month.
KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay said on Monday that one of the articles undermined the commission's independence as election organizer and would be challenged in court.
"We are waiting for the law to be given an official name by the government then we will file for a judicial review at the Constitutional Court," he said at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta as reported by newsportal kompas.com.
The KPU will contest Article 9 of the law, which requires it to consult with the House and the government when arranging KPU regulations and technical guidelines of election stages. Decisions made in consultation meetings will be binding, according to the article.
The House endorsed the revision on June 2 despite objections to an article requiring mandatory resignation by legislators running for regional head positions.
The revised law also regulates the duties of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in which the arrangement of regulations and technical supervision for all stages of an election must first be discussed with the House and the government, the results of which are binding.
Masykirufin Hafidz, coordinator of the People's Voter Education Network (JPRR), said both the KPU and Bawaslu had a legal right to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court on the articles in the revised Regional Elections Law. The two agencies also had a fair chance of winning considering the law would impact the two independent agencies. (rin)
