Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court rejected Thursday a request to strike down five laws restricting active police and military officers from voting or running in general elections.
Presiding judge Jimly Asshiddiqie, who is also chairman of the court, said the appeal, made by retired police office Sofwat Hadi, was dismissed over legal technicalities.
"Although the Court has the right to examine Law No. 12/2003 on the election of the legislative councils, Law No. 23/2003 on the presidential and vice presidential elections, Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration, Law No. 2/2002 on the national police and Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian military, as requested by the plaintiff, and to issue a ruling on it, we conclude that the plaintiff did not have legal standing to file the lawsuit. Therefore, we cannot grant his request," Jimly said.
Sofwat Hadi, whose last rank before retirement was senior commissioner, was an active officer when he ran for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in the 2004 elections. He is now a DPD member from South Kalimantan.
"Retired police and military officers do not have the same status as those who are still active in the police or the military institution, according to the current law," Jimly said.
The court said that Sofwat could not behave as if he was still an active officer in his former organization. Moreover, Sofwat also could not act in the name of the National Police, it added.
The five laws contain articles which regulate the rights of active military and police officers to cast their votes and to run for office in general elections.
Sofwat said the five laws contradicted the universal principle of voting rights stipulated in the 1945 Constitution.
He added that the right to vote and run in elections was implemented erratically in Indonesia because the law differentiated between active and retired officers.
Under the 1945 Constitution, the country is obliged to given fair treatment without discrimination to all citizens, Sofwat said.
Paragraph I of Article 28 of the Constitution states that all citizens have the right to be free from discrimination, while Paragraph D of the same article states that every person deserves fair treatment under the law.
Separately, political observer Ikrar Nusa Bakti suggested that members of the military and the police should be given the right to run for office but not to vote in the general elections in order to prevent them from being targeted by lobbyists for the country's various political forces.
"The Indonesian military has been conducting an internal survey on whether their members would opt for the right to vote and be elected or not. The findings can be used as a consideration," Ikrar told The Jakarta Post.