In the Constitutional Court's view, (the threshold) is not the domain of its authority to assess and later change it…it is the authority of law-making bodies--the DPR (House of Representatives) and the President…Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Constitutional Court has rejected the Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) application for a judicial review of the 20-percent presidential threshold stipulated in General Election Law No. 7/2017.
"Rejecting the application of the applicant entirely," chief of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman said while reading out the court's verdict (number 73/PUU-XX/2022) in Jakarta on Thursday.
Article 222 of the law stipulates that a party or a coalition of parties must secure a minimum of 20 percent of parliamentary seats or 25 percent of the popular vote to nominate a candidate in the presidential election.
The application was filed by PKS chairman Ahmad Syaikhu and secretary general Aboe Bakar Alhabsyi as applicant I, and chief of the PKS' law-making body Salim Segaf Aljufri as applicant II.
Constitutional Court justices Suhartoyo and Saldi Isra defended their concurring opinion in handling the application for a judicial review of the presidential threshold.
Suhartoyo said he would stick to his principle as he has done in the previous verdicts. He said the percentage implementation in the presidential threshold is improper.
In the application, PKS demanded that the presidential threshold be lowered to 9 percent from 20 percent.
Responding to the application, Constitutional Court justice Enny Nurbaningsih said the Constitutional Court would stick to its principle regarding Article 222 of the General Election Law No. 7/2017.
Nurbaningsih said the Constitutional Court sees the threshold as an open political policy.
"In the Constitutional Court's view, (the threshold) is not the domain of its authority to assess and later change it. This is also confirmed by the applicants in their applications that (the threshold) is an open policy so that it is the authority of law-making bodies the DPR (House of Representatives) and the President to decide it," she added.
Translator: Tri Meilani A, Suharto
Editor: Bayu Prasetyo
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