The 60 UI professors representing various study fields stated that MK's decisions are final and binding to all, including national institutions such as the parliament. There is no more avenue to appeal the MK ruling.
"Revising the Law on Regional Leaders' Election by disregarding MK verdicts barely a day after its decision (being read) showed that the parliament has no statesmanlike attitude demanded by the people to their representatives," DGB UI Chairperson, Professor Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, representing the Council, noted in their statement on Thursday.
According to DGB UI, such an inconsiderate move will cause friction and dispute between national institutions, damage national unity, and potentially cause a "constitutional crisis."
"The authority of the state and national institutions may collapse; the rule of law and the people's trust in the government may reach the nadir," Harkrisnowo stated in connection with the consequences of failure to abide by the MK decisions.
Hence, the Council has demanded the efforts to revise the Law on Regional Leaders' Election to cease, pressed for statesmanship to be upheld, and urged that the General Elections Commission (KPU) heed MK's verdicts in organizing regional head elections.
On Tuesday, the MK decided that the threshold for nominating candidates for regional head and deputy regional head posts should be solely on votes gained in regional elections instead of by seats in regional parliaments.
The verdict effectively overrode Article 40(1) of the Law on Regional Leaders' Election, which earlier required parties to either gain 25 percent of the vote share or 20 percent of the regional parliaments' seats to nominate candidates.
The Court also declared on the same day that the age threshold for regional head candidates -- 30 years for governor and 25 years for district heads and mayors -- should be counted from the candidate's registration day.
However, the parliament's Legislative Body and the government speedily approved on Wednesday revisions to the Law on Regional Leaders' Election for ratification at the plenary session. The revision only partly adheres to the MK ruling.
The revised draft stated that the votes threshold for regional head elections shall apply only to parties who failed to enter regional parliaments, while the parliamentary parties remain subject to the parliament seat threshold.
Moreover, the revision also stated that the age threshold for regional leaders should be counted from the inauguration day instead of the registration day. The parliament said an earlier Supreme Court verdict justified the change.
Due to a lack of quorum, the plenary session to ratify the revisions of the Law on Regional Leaders' Election, planned on Thursday morning, was called off.
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Translator: Genta Tenri M, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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