Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) is very responsive when it comes to matters concerning the interests of political parties. This swift action was most recently seen after the constitutional judges ruled that the central and regional elections must be held separately. This separation disadvantages major parties because they will lose votes in the regions due to the concentration for gathering votes that are divided.

The court granted the judicial review of three articles in the General Election Law and one article in the Gubernatorial, Regency, and Mayoral Elections Law on June 26, 2025. The ruling separates national elections, which include the presidential election and the election of members of the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council (DPD), from regional elections, namely the election of members of the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) and the election of regional heads. After the constitutional justices read this ruling, the DPR revived its plan to revise the Constitutional Court Law.

The DPR claims that this planned revision has nothing to do with the court ruling. But given the precedent when the Constitutional Court ruled that the Job Creation Law benefited oligarchs, this denial is easily refuted. After the constitutional judges ruled in 2021 that the Job Creation Law was "conditionally unconstitutional," the parties in the DPR proposed changes to four articles in the Constitutional Court Law concerning the position of constitutional justices.

As a result of the change to one article, after their five-year term of office ends, constitutional judges have to be returned to the organization that proposed them, the DPR, the president, or the Supreme Court. In other words, the proposing institution can reject constitutional judges who do not accommodate their interests and replace them with judges who accommodate the wishes of the proposing institution.

The Constitutional Court ruling on the elections separation will have an impact on parties' share of the vote. Parties that are not solid will lose votes for seats in the DPR because prospective legislators in the regions will focus on garnering votes in their own interests. This means that the costs for prospective legislators in the center will be far higher.

The separation of central and regional elections also implies that direct elections for regional heads will continue. It puts an end to President Prabowo Subianto and his supporting parties' desire for regional heads to be directly appointed by the DPRD, which will, he claims, ensure development programs are aligned. With DPRDs not yet formed at the time of the election, voters in the regions had to elect regional legislators and regional head candidates simultaneously.

This Constitutional Court ruling could encourage the parties to consolidate. And the sovereignty of the people will be strengthened. Voters could punish parties who abuse their authority by not voting for the same party at the regional election. This will mean that coalitions of parties at the national level and in the regions will no longer be based simply on political pragmatism but on parties putting forward competing programs to win votes.

But the parties have completely contrary interpretations. Simply because of political interests in the coalition and the desire to garner votes cheaply, they are opposing the Constitutional Court ruling, claiming that it violates the Constitution. They have forgotten that the parties supported the Constitutional Court when it found a way round the Constitution by changing the age requirements for vice-presidential candidates, which allowed Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run alongside Prabowo.

Opposing a Constitutional Court ruling by trying to control constitutional justices shows that the parties are no longer functioning ideologically. They are objecting to improvements aimed at making Indonesian democracy stronger and healthier.

– Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2031107/how-the-political-parties-control-the-constitutional-cour