Jakarta – After the Constitutional Court (MK) granted a judicial review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections regarding the age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates proposed by a Surakarta State University (Unsa) student named Almas Tsaqibbirru, public trust in the Constitutional Court has decreased.
Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra was worried that the Constitutional Court’s decision could reduce public trust.
This was conveyed by Saldi in the hearing regarding the decision regarding the age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates at the Constitutional Court, Central Jakarta, Monday (16/10/2023). Saldi is one of four judges who have different opinions regarding the decision in case Number 90/PUU-XXI/2023.
Initially, Saldi said that the minimum age requirements for state officials, including the minimum age requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates, as proposed in the a quo petition could be said to be part of the political question doctrine.
According to him, this problem should be resolved by the President and the DPR as law makers, not judicial institutions such as the MK.
According to him, the Constitutional Court often considers open legal policy on issues that are not explicitly regulated in the constitution. This, he said, was completely left to the legislators. So, the Constitutional Court should stick to the opened legal policy.
“In the a quo petition, the Court should also apply judicial restraint by refraining from entering into the authority of law makers in determining the minimum age requirements for vice-presidential and vice-presidential candidates. “This is very necessary to maintain balance and respect for the legislators in the context of the separation of state powers,” he explained.
Previously, in a discussion held by the Syndicate with the theme MK, Not Family Court: Throne, Power, Forgotten? 15/10/2023 in Jakarta, the Executive Director of Lingkar Madani described that political dynasties were a theme that created political turmoil in 1997-1998. And the issue of nepotism is one of the triggers for popular resistance in addition to other issues such as corruption and collusion.
Because of this, Ray believes that the lawsuit regarding the age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates is an attempt to perpetuate power.
“The lawsuit over the age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates can be suspected as an effort to maintain power in the government.” Obviously
He also encouraged Bawaslu to be evaluated. Because, so far it seems like he has always rejected reports from certain parties using various pretexts.
On this occasion, Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PHBI) Julius Hebrewni said that the results of the Constitutional Court’s decision never paid attention to public aspirations.
The Chair of the Centra Initiative, DR. Al Araf said that many of the Constitutional Court’s current decisions are inconsistent.
“The MK is currently experiencing degradation due to the many ethical and criminal violations committed by MK Judges as well as the many inconsistent MK decisions,” he said.