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MA rejects settling local election disputes
The Supreme Court (MA) has rejected taking a role in settling regional election disputes as stipulated in the newly passed Regional Election Law
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he Supreme Court (MA) has rejected taking a role in settling regional election disputes as stipulated in the newly passed Regional Election Law.
During a hearing with House of Representatives' Commission II on governance and regional autonomy on Wednesday, court spokesman Suhardi suggested that the House amend the law to return the dispute settlement authority to the Constitutional Court (MK).
'We are suggesting that [the settlement of regional election disputes] be returned to the MK and [we hope] Commission II can accept our proposal,' he said as quoted by detik.com.
The settlement of regional election disputes had been under the authority of the MK for years before the emergence of the corruption case against former MK chief Akil Mochtar, who had been convicted in 2013 of accepting bribes to favor certain candidates in front of the court.
The newly passed amendments of the Regional Election Law has given the authority to the MA because of waning confidence in the MK.
Law experts who presented to the House also wanted the authority to be returned to the MK.
'The dispute settlement should be done swiftly to prevent a power vacuum in the contested regions. Trials in the MA usually take a longer time [than in the MK],' said law expert M. Fauzan from Purwokerto-based Jendral Soedirman University. (***)
