Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Independent candidates have won a number of regional elections, but their quest to contest the presidential race has been halted by a legal obstacle, at least temporarily.
On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court voted against a judicial review of four articles in Law No. 42/2008 on the presidential election, which the plaintiffs said restricted citizens' political right to vie for the top executive post.
"The plaintiffs' arguments are groundless," court chief Mahfud M.D., presiding over the hearing, said as he read out the verdict. "[The Constitutional Court] declares that the plaintiffs' request entirely rejected."
The panel of judges said the four contested articles were in accordance with Article 6A(2) of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that presidential and vice presidential candidates be nominated by political parties or coalitions contesting the preceding legislative elections.
The plaintiffs – independent candidate M. Fadjroel Rachman and two people calling themselves only eligible voters, Mariana and Bob Febrian – said independents should be allowed to contest the presidential election, just as they were allowed to contest regional elections.
While Articles 1(4), 8 and 13 stipulate only parties have the right to name presidential candidates, Article 9 says in detail that parties who may do so are those that manage to secure a minimum of 20 percent of seats at the House of Representatives, or 25 percent of total valid votes nationally in the preceding legislative elections, set for April 9.
The court said the article on the threshold already provided a "clear ruling" on the privilege of parties to name candidates, and that it could not be interpreted any differently.
The plaintiffs earlier argued, citing an expert's opinion, that the article should not be interpreted in its original intent, and that it was affirmative rather than imperative.
They said the article was introduced during the amendment of the Constitution early in the reform era, when political parties began dominating the country's political system, and was thus aimed at preserving that domination.
Three of the court's eight judges – Abdul Mukhtie Fadjar, Maruarar Siahaan and M. Akil Mochtar – voiced dissenting opinions during the trial. Abdul said an amendment to the 1945 Constitution might be needed to allow independent candidates to contest presidential elections, while Maruarar and Akil said Article 6A(2) of the Constitution should be allowed to be interpreted differently.
Fadjroel said although he was disappointed with the court's ruling, the dissenting opinions of the three judges provided hope for independent candidates to contest the president elections in 2014 or 2019.
"Basically, I think not all the judges reject the idea of independent candidates; they only think it is, at present, unconstitutional," said Fadjroel, who chairs the Institute for Democracy and Prosperous Nation Studies. "Therefore our next struggle is to seek a fifth amendment to the Constitution."
The government hailed Tuesday's ruling as being in compliance with the Constitution. Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata said the Constitution had clearly awarded the privilege to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates to political parties.
"That's the spirit of the presidential election law," he said. He added the electoral threshold was aimed at forming a strong government that had adequate popular support.