If the judicial review request is approved by the MK, then will not have far-reaching implications."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The democratic system in Indonesia can be made healthy if the Constitutional Court (MK) accepts a judicial review request of the law on presidential and vice presidential elections, stated a political party secretary general.
"If the judicial review is accepted by the MK, it will make the democratic system in the country healthier, as it will help to resolve the political coalition problems," Secretary General of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Mahfudz Siddiq noted here on Wednesday.
He pointed out that if the judicial review was approved, it will reinforce the governments presidential system. It will enable the political parties to nominate the names for their respective presidential and vice presidential candidates much earlier.
According to Mahfudz, if the political parties coalesced, it is more or less only a form of support to the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the second round of the presidential elections.
"If the judicial review request is approved by the MK, then will not have far-reaching implications," the PKS secretary general remarked.
Constitutional Expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Political Analyst Effendi Gazali have filed a judicial review request with the MK over the Law No. 42/2008 on the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections.
The law sets a presidential threshold that has to be met by a political party prior to it nominating its presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Yusril believes that the law is against the 1945 Constitution, which allows a political party to nominate its presidential and vice presidential candidates.
He submitted the request for a judicial review to prove that the general elections, so far, were held in an unconstitutional manner. He backed his claim by stating that according to the 1945 Constitution, all political parties are entitled to nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates.
But the Law No. 42/2008, among others, regulates that a political party should attain a presidential threshold before it can nominate its presidential and vice presidential hopefuls.
Based on the law, a political party will have a presidential threshold if it wins 25 percent of the votes in the legislative elections or 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday, the MK started a court session to evaluate the judicial review request filed by Yusril.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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