"Our Constitution does not have any loopholes to allow delaying the election, except if the parliament decides to amend Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution regulating the presidential term limit," the electoral watchdog's member Anggraini noted in Semarang on Friday.
Article 7 of the Constitution stipulates that a presidential term is limited to five years and can be renewed only once. Hence, a president and vice president can serve for at most 10 years upon their successful second presidential bid.
Anggraini's remark was made in response to proposals from members of the public to push back the general election scheduled in 2024 to 2027, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as justification for the delay.
She noted Article 8 (3) of the Constitution on presidential succession in case of simultaneous abstention of the president and the vice president is not applicable for abstention due to election delay.
According to Article 8 (3) of the Constitution, a triumvirate of the foreign affairs minister, home affairs minister, and defense minister would jointly perform presidential duties in case of a presidential and vice-presidential vacuum.
The provision of Article 8 is only valid when both the president and vice president are simultaneously impeached, have resigned, or are incapacitated, according to Anggraini.
In a scenario when both offices were vacated and the triumvirate was formed, article 8 mandated the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) to elect a new president and vice president on a joint ticket proposed by the two largest parties or party alliances. The president and vice president elected by this method would serve the remainder of the ongoing presidential term, Anggraini said.
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Translator: D Kliwantoro, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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