Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Wednesday said that his government respects the decisions reached by the Constitutional Court (MK) and House of Representatives (DPR) on the rules related to regional head elections (Pilkada). "We in the government respect the authority and decisions of each state institution," he stated in a video broadcast by his secretariat's YouTube channel, which was accessed from Jakarta on Wednesday.

The head of state underlined that differing views on regulations are a natural part of Constitutional processes in Indonesia.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the MK issued two crucial rulings regarding the nomination of regional head candidates — Decision No. 60/PUU/XXII/2024 and Decision No. 70/PUU-XXII/2024.

Through the first ruling, the court amended Article 40(1) of Law No. 10 of 2016, which earlier required political parties to either gain 25 percent of the vote share or 20 percent of the Regional Representative Council (DPRD) seats to nominate candidates.

The ruling allows political parties without DPRD seats to nominate candidate pairs. The court determined that the number of valid votes in a region will solely determine the eligibility of political parties or coalitions to propose candidates.

Meanwhile, the second ruling annulled the interpretation of the Supreme Court (MA) on the Pilkada Law regarding the minimum age for regional head candidates.

The Supreme Court had stipulated that the minimum age needs to be calculated based on the date of inauguration. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court has determined that a candidate's age must be calculated based on the date of their registration with the General Elections Commission (KPU).

In response, the DPR has decided to partially accommodate MK's decision on the election nomination threshold by applying it only to non-parliamentary parties or those without seats in the DPRD.

Regarding the minimum age ruling, the Legislative Body of the DPR convened on Wednesday, resulting in a decision to follow MA's interpretation of the Pilkada Law by proceeding with revisions to the law.

With the law revised, the minimum age for gubernatorial candidates will be set at 30 and for district head and mayoral candidates at 25. The age calculation will be based on when the candidates are inaugurated as regional leaders.

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Translator: Benardy F, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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