The campaign to keep President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in power beyond his term, which ends in October 2024, continues, this time going through the court, making it harder for anyone to stop it without being accused of tampering with the country’s legal system.

The Central Jakarta District Court on March 2 ordered the General Elections Commission (KPU) to drop all preparations for the February 2024 election and to restart the entire process anew after it found the commission guilty for excluding a small unknown political party from the process.

The ruling did not specifically say that the election must be delayed but made clear that they cannot take place in 2024 “to punish the defendant (the KPU) to stop implementing the remaining stages of the preparation for the 2024 election from the date of this decision, and to go back with the preparations about two years, four months and seven days.” This means if the verdict holds, the elections will be held in July 2025 at the earliest.

The backlash came swift and strong from many politicians who see this in the larger picture of the campaign that would allow President Jokowi to stay in power beyond what is permitted by the constitution, which limits a president to a maximum of a two-year term.

The KPU began the election preparations last year, and one of the first decisions it made was approving 17 political parties to contest the legislative elections and rejecting dozens of others for failing to meet the minimum requirements.

One of those rejected was the Prima Party, a new party which failed to meet the required minimum representation across the regions. The party had previously appealed to the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) and failed, and then went to the Jakarta Administrative Court and failed. It then filed a report with the Central Jakarta District Court, which last week ruled in its favor.

Constitutional experts say the case should have been dealt with by a civil court rather than a criminal court and that the Central Jakarta District Court went beyond its authority in ordering delays in holding the elections. The KPU has announced its intention to appeal against the court’s decision, and many have come in support of the plan, including President Jokowi, who said the election preparations must continue. “This is a controversy that has its pros and cons, but the government supports the KPU to file an appeal,” the President said on Tuesday in his first response to the court ruling.

Popular

Power begins to return after outage in Indonesia's Bali island

North Sumatra to investigate hot mudflow eruptions in Mandailing Natal

'Devastated' Prince Harry says no UK return but seeks reconciliation