Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – Constitutional law expert Jimly Asshiddiqie proposed that, in Indonesian presidential elections, the public should only vote for the president. "The vice president should be appointed by the elected president, but approved by the MPR," said Jimly at the Constitution Seminar held by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
According to him, this mechanism exists to prevent a vice presidential candidate from emerging from an inappropriate process. The former Chair of the Constitutional Court touched on the previous presidential election. The nomination of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 Indonesian Presidential Election became a subject of debate from the beginning due to issues.
"Instead of the commotion like before. So the vice president is truly someone chosen by the president, not someone resulting from pragmatic, transactional commotions," said Jimly.
Jimly also emphasized the need to reorganize representative and deliberative institutions. According to him, ideally, there should only be two institutions in the legislative affairs, namely the House of Representatives (DPR) and the MPR.
Furthermore, he mentioned that in practice, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) only has the authority to provide input, not make decisions. "So, the aspirations of regions over the past 20 years have only been taken into consideration," he said.
MPR, he said, also needs to ensure its authority. One of them is regarding the agenda for the inauguration of the president and vice president. Jimly assessed that so far, the article on the inauguration of state leaders by MPR has not been properly implemented.
"What happens is that MPR only opens the session and allows the elected president to inaugurate on their own. It's like that," he said.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka's nomination for the 2024 Indonesian presidential election was problematic because it violated ethical standards. Previously, Gibran's uncle, Constitutional Court Justice Anwar Usman, ruled on a case that paved the way for Jokowi's son to run alongside Prabowo in the 2024 Indonesian Presidential Election.
Lately, there has been a movement to impeach Gibran initiated by the Retired Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Forum. This forum of retired generals demanded that the MPR impeach Gibran because his nomination was considered unethical from the beginning. They have also sent a letter to MPR and DPR regarding this impeachment. However, there has been no response to the letter so far.