House of Representatives lawmakers have said a proposal to move the upcoming regional elections forward might be off the table after a Constitutional Court opinion held that the polls should remain in November.

On Thursday, the court rejected a petition to add a provision to the 2016 Regional Elections Law requiring candidates who had been elected in the Feb. 14 legislative election to resign from their positions if they were running the upcoming regional elections.

The legislators elected in February are to be sworn into office in October, while the regional elections are scheduled for Nov. 27. The plaintiffs argued that the legislators-elect should resign to ensure a fair competition between them and other candidates and prevent the abuse of power.

In one opinion supporting the ruling, the court asserted that the upcoming regional polls must be held in November, in accordance with dates stipulated in the Regional Elections Law, to prevent them from overlapping with the timeline for this year’s general election.

“Changing the schedule will disrupt and threaten the constitutionality of the implementation of the simultaneous regional elections,” said Justice Daniel Yusmic Pancastaki Foekh, reading out the opinion at the Thursday hearing.

The Constitutional Court opinion could force the legislature and executive to cancel plans to move the regional elections to September, said House Legislation Body (Baleg) deputy chairman Achmad Baidowi.

“It’s not a problem if we want to revise [the Regional Elections Law], but we can’t change the schedule because we follow the Constitutional Court’s ruling,” the United Development Party (PPP) politician told reporters on Tuesday.

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