Jakarta – The Constitutional Court (MK) emphasized its commitment to the principle of justice at the first hearing of the 2024 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) dispute.
Facing the first hearing, the Constitutional Court recruited 60 interpreters, five translators, and three ad hoc writers to support the smooth process of resolving this dispute.
The Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, Heru Setiawan, explained that the ad hoc staff had been sworn in based on the Decree of the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court Number 4.2 of 2025.
“This ad hoc staff is part of the Constitutional Court as a modern and trusted institution. By utilizing technology, trial minutes, both in audio and text form, will be uploaded and can be accessed by the public as a form of transparency,” he said.
Heru also emphasized the importance of integrity in carrying out the duties of interpreters, writers and translators.
“They are part of the system that ensures that direct, general, free, secret, honest and fair elections are held,” he added.
Member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the PKB Faction, Mohammad Toha, expressed his support for the strategic steps taken by the Constitutional Court (MK) in handling the lawsuit over the results of the 2024 Regional Elections.
One important strategy that was appreciated was the Constitutional Court’s policy of not appointing constitutional judges to handle cases from their home regions or cases involving their family or relatives who are regional head candidates.
“We support the MK’s special strategy, including this step, so that there is no conflict of interest. With this strategy, it is hoped that the Pilkada dispute resolution process will run fairly and transparently,” said Toha.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau of the Constitutional Court, Pan Mohamad Faiz, explained that the trial was held using a panel system, where each panel consisted of three constitutional judges.
“The panel of judges remains the same as in the 2024 Legislative Election dispute. There are three panels led by experienced judges,” he said.
The first session discussed the preliminary examination, while the final decision session is scheduled to take place on March 7–11, 2025. To date, the Constitutional Court has registered 309 regional election dispute cases, including 23 gubernatorial cases, 49 mayoral cases, and 237 regental cases.
Faiz also emphasized the application screening process carried out by the Constitutional Court to ensure the validity of each file.
“Some applications are submitted online and offline. If duplication is found, only one application will be registered,” he explained.
As a follow-up step, the Constitutional Court will submit a copy of the application to the Regional General Election Commission (KPUD) and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), as well as register the relevant parties who will be involved in the trial process.
This first session is an important first step in ensuring the resolution of Pilkada disputes in accordance with the principles of justice and transparency. With the support of ad hoc staff and the use of technology, the Constitutional Court seeks to uphold the constitutional mandate as the guardian of citizens’ rights. ****