New Government, Momentum for Comprehensive Improvement of Election Regulations

The revision of the Election Law is not limited to following up on the Constitutional Court's decision, but to improve all election rules.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The Chairman of the General Elections Commission, Hasyim Asyari, handed over the letter of appointment for elected presidential and vice-presidential candidates to Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka at the Open Plenary Meeting to appoint the elected Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidate Pair for the 2024 Election held at the KPU Building in Jakarta on Wednesday (24/4/2024).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Commission II of the House of Representatives encourages revision of the Election Law to be implemented at the beginning of the new executive and legislative government. The revisions were not only carried out to follow up on the corrective notes from the Constitutional Court's decision regarding disputes over the results of the presidential election, but also to follow up on various decisions on judicial review of the Election Law and the results of various parties' evaluations regarding the implementation of the last two elections.

Chairman of Commission II of the DPR, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, said that various notes on improvements by the Constitutional Court in the case of dispute over the results of the 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Election (Pilpres) confirmed the need to revise Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (elections). Because in its decision, the court provided various corrective notes that must be followed up by legislators by revising the Election Law.

"The improvement is not only limited to the record of the Constitutional Court, but also to follow up on the decisions of the electoral law material tests and evaluations of the election implementation from various parties," he said after the announcement of the elected presidential and vice presidential candidates at the General Election Commission (KPU) office in Jakarta on Wednesday (24/4/2024).

Also read: After the Constitutional Court's decision, the rules of the game need to be perfected, what are they?

According to him, a comprehensive revision is necessary to improve the rules of the election. Because there are several other issues that need to be addressed in the revision of the Election Law, including the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the parliamentary threshold and the establishment of constituencies (dapil). The decision on the parliamentary threshold even requires the lawmakers to revise the provision before the 2029 election.

DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI

Chairman of Commission II DPR RI Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung.

On the other hand, according to Doli, several figures also provided input on the implementation of elections. Chairman of the Gerindra Party and the elected presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, stated that democracy in Indonesia is noisy and tiring. It is a signal that the electoral system needs to be perfected. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also complained about expensive politics.

Various things indicate that voices from various parties want a revision of the Election Law, including the need to enforce the legal decisions and considerations of the Constitutional Court from various tests of the election law and presidential election disputes. It remains for the next DPR and government to plan to revise the Election Law.

"The beginning of the period is the right time to improve the electoral system because it is far from the implementation of the election stages so that the revision is truly objective and has enough time to elaborate and communicate with all stakeholders of the nation and state," said Doli.

Furthermore, the DPR's 2nd Commission has also inventoried various problems that need to be resolved through a revision of the Election Law. These notes were obtained from the implementation of the Election Law in the last two elections.

Its improvement is not only limited to the notes of the Constitutional Court, but also to follow up on the decisions of the judicial review of the Election Law and evaluations of the elections implementation from various parties.

According to him, there are five classic issues and four contemporary issues in the Election Law. The five classic issues are the electoral system, parliamentary threshold, the threshold for presidential and vice-presidential candidacy, the number of seats per electoral district, and vote conversion into seats. The four contemporary issues are election disarray, digitalization, expensive political costs, and regulation of the election and regional elections regime.

However, technically speaking, according to Doli, revising the Election Law is easier if proposed by the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR). This is because discussions among all factions in the DPR have been ongoing since the beginning, so some issues have already been resolved before being proposed for revision. It is a different story if proposed by the government, which will result in a long list of inventory problems from all factions in the DPR.

Election law lecturer at the University of Indonesia, Titi Anggraini, said that ideally the new Election Law could be enacted in 2025 or at the latest early 2026. Thus, the new electoral legal framework can be used for the 2029 General Elections and Regional Elections. In addition, there is enough time to prepare the capacity of organizers and socialization to stakeholders, including election participants, observers, and voters.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Lecturer in election law at the University of Indonesia, Titi Anggraini.

According to him, the current Election Law is already very fragile. This is because many articles have had their validity canceled by the Constitutional Court. In addition, the Election Law and Regional Election Law are the laws that have been tested the most by the Constitutional Court because they are considered to be lagging behind the contemporary conditions of current elections.

Furthermore, according to Titi, the revision should also unify the legal framework for both general elections and local elections. Because with different regulations like now, it creates inconsistencies and disharmony in regulating general and local elections for the same legal condition.

Also read: Indications of election fraud should not be ignored, they could be repeated in the 2024 regional elections

"It is time for lawmakers to codify the regulation of elections and regional elections in the same legislative document. Therefore, the legal framework for legislative, presidential, and regional elections will be more consolidated and orderly," he said.