Mahfud MD: Implement the Constitutional Court's Decision on Election Separation, DPRD By-Election Could Be an Option

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD urged the House of Representatives to respect and implement the decision of the Constitutional Court which separates the schedule for the implementation of national and local elections, as the decision is final and binding.

Regarding the election of regional legislative council members who must resign two to 2.5 years in advance, he rejected the extension of the term of office for regional legislative council members. He proposed the implementation of a mid-term election before the simultaneous local elections.

Mahfud conveyed this in a special interview with Kompas for the podcast program "Gercep" at the Kompas Gramedia Building in Jakarta on Wednesday (July 9, 2025). The podcast will air on Kompas.id and the Kompas Daily YouTube channel on Friday (July 11, 2025).

Furthermore, according to him, the separation of national and local elections as ordered by the Constitutional Court does indeed create legal complications.

One of the issues pertains to the terms of office for regional heads and members of the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) that will expire in 2029, while according to the Constitutional Court's decision, the regional head elections (pilkada) and the elections for members of the DPRD or local elections will be held simultaneously and conducted two to 2.5 years after the presidential election, as well as the elections for members of the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) or national elections in 2029.

Specifically regarding regional heads, according to Mahfud, they could be filled by acting regional heads as has been implemented in many areas leading up to the Simultaneous Regional Elections in 2024.

However, a similar approach cannot be applied to the Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD). The constitution mandates that elections for the DPRD be held every five years, which will occur in 2029. Therefore, he proposed that in 2029, a mid-term election should still be conducted to select members of the DPRD. Nevertheless, the term of office for the elected DPRD members would only be 2 to 2.5 years or until the simultaneous local elections are held. For this, the Election Law needs to be revised to adopt this transitional scheme.

So far, what has emerged in the public discourse is the extension of the term of office for current members of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) to 7 to 7.5 years or until local elections are held. However, Mahfud rejected this notion because the constitution mandates that the elections for members of the DPRD, along with the presidential election, the House of Representatives (DPR), and the Regional Representative Council (DPD), must be held every five years.

The option of a midterm election or other alternatives during the transition period before the simultaneous national and local elections, Mahfud continued, needs to be discussed promptly by the DPR and the government. He reminded that the revision of the Election Law must be completed before 2027. This is because, in that year, the stages for the 2029 elections will already begin.

"We must be constitutionalists. The decision of the Constitutional Court is binding. It must be implemented. How can it be done? What if the DPR does not want to comply? It cannot be. It is mandatory to implement," he stated.

While stating that the Constitutional Court's ruling must be implemented, Mahfud criticized the court for overstepping its authority by intruding into the technical aspects of election administration. He argued that the Constitutional Court had intruded into policy matters that should be within the jurisdiction of lawmakers, or an open legal policy.

"This Constitutional Court, in my opinion, while still binding, has overstepped into areas that are not actually within its authority. Yes, because it is too technical. Regulating the schedule (of elections) is not the authority of the Constitutional Court," said Mahfud.

The Constitutional Court actually functions as a negative legislature which only cancels norms, not creates new norms, except in legal emergencies such as a legal vacuum.

Not only that, he sees recent Constitutional Court decisions as inconsistent and potentially diverting the direction of Indonesian electoral democracy.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, Heru Setiawan, when met at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (9/7/2025), stated that the Constitutional Court's decision has been read out. Therefore, according to him, the "ball" is now in the hands of the House of Representatives to follow up on the decision in the revision of the law.

"The Constitutional Court's decision has been announced, we are just waiting for the DPR's authority to follow up," he said.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Adies Kadir, revealed that there is still no certainty whether the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the separation of elections will be adopted in the Election Bill. According to him, the majority of factions in the House are still reviewing it.

"Almost all parties are still evaluating, except for Partai Nasdem which may respond more quickly. Therefore, we are indeed being cautious in responding to this Constitutional Court decision," he stated.

He also mentioned that the leadership of the DPR and the government began discussing the decision of the Constitutional Court last week. According to him, the government is still in the process of reviewing the decision. "Hopefully, the review can be consolidated and result in a decision that does not harm various parties," he stated.