tirto.id – The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) criticized the argument of the Chairman of the Indonesian KPU, Hasyim Asy’ari, that elected legislative candidates in the 2024 elections are not required to resign if they participate in the 2024 simultaneous elections.
“It is not mandatory to resign from office. They have not been inaugurated and have not taken office yet, what are they resigning from?” Hasyim was quoted as saying by Antara, Friday (10/5/2024).
According to Hasyim, elected candidates who are required to resign from their positions are members of the DPR / DPD / DPRD for provincial / regency / city ranks in the 2019 elections and are re-elected in the 2024 elections.
Through its press statement, Perludem believes that this argument is wrong and tends to defy the Constitutional Court’s decision.
If traced, DPR RI candidates elected in the 2024 elections will be inaugurated and change their status to legislative members on October 1, 2024. Then, the inauguration time of DPRD members is different because it will be adjusted to the end of the term of office of each DPRD member, both at the provincial and district / city levels.
Meanwhile, KPU Regulation Number 2 of 2024 states that the registration of regional head candidate pairs will be held on August 27-29, 2024. Then, the determination of regional head candidate pairs will be carried out on September 22, 2024. Finally, the regulation regulates that the campaign begins on September 25 to November 23, 2024.
Therefore, the KPU Chairman’s argument for not regulating the resignation of elected candidates shows an unfair attitude in accordance with the principles of organizing elections and is contrary to the constitution.
“The reason is, the time difference between the Pilkada stage and the inauguration of the elected candidates in the 2024 elections is certainly different and a more comprehensive arrangement is needed. Especially at the Pilkada stage, where the provisions of the Elected Candidates must resign,” Perludem explained in his press statement, Friday (10/5/2024).
Perludem realizes that the Chairman of the KPU relies on the Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Number 12 / PUU-XXII / 2024. The Constitutional Court’s decision indeed emphasizes that the elected DPR, DPD, and DPRD candidates are not yet bound by constitutional rights and obligations.
However, the same Constitutional Court Decision also ordered the KPU to require elected DPR, DPD, and DPRD candidates to make a statement letter “willing to resign if they have been officially inaugurated” when running for regional head.
“This rule is important to avoid the implementation of Pilkada followed by elected legislative members who have constitutional rights attached to them, which have the potential for abuse of authority, as well as disruption of job performance,” explained Perludem.
The statement letter “willing to resign if officially inaugurated” will be effective on the date the candidates are officially inaugurated as legislative members – namely October 1 for the DPR and DPD, and at the time of the inauguration of the DPRD.
In the end, Perludem encourages the KPU to ensure the implementation of fair elections. Therefore, the KPU must implement the Constitutional Court Decision Number 12/PUU-XXII/2024. In addition, Perludem also encourages Bawaslu to play a more active role in supervising the KPU.
“Bawaslu must supervise the nomination stage and ensure that the KPU implements Constitutional Court Decision Number 12 / PUU-XXII / 2024 by including the requirement to make a statement of willingness to resign if they have been officially appointed as members of the DPR, DPD members and DPRD members if they continue to run for regional heads,” concluded Perludem.
This article has been published on Tirto.id with the title “Perludem: KPU Must Implement Constitutional Court Decision Number 12/PUU-XXII/2024″, https://tirto.id/perludem-kpu-harus-laksanakan-putusan-mk-nomor-12puu-xxii2024-gYx4