Following the Constitutional Court's Decision on Election Separation, the DPR Needs to Immediately Revise the Election Law

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The House of Representatives and the government are urged to promptly discuss the revision of the Election Law following the Constitutional Court's decision that separates national elections from local elections, and provides a maximum interval of 2.5 years from the inauguration of the House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council, or the president/vice president.

One of the important reasons for discussing the revision of the Election Law from the outset is the numerous consequences of the decision regarding the choice of the simultaneous election model, which requires extensive and in-depth discussion.

"The revision of the Election Law must start now. If not, we will be in disarray again. This also helps the election participants to prepare more thoroughly for the new election model in 2029. We should not let them be in the dark about the system, what needs to be prepared, including logistics," said the Director of the Constitutional Study Center at the Faculty of Law, Andalas University, Charles Simabura, during a discussion on Friday (27/6/2025).

The day before, specifically on Thursday (26/6/2025), the Constitutional Court decided to grant the judicial review request submitted by the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), which asked the Court to separate the national elections (DPR, DPD, president/vice president) from the local elections (DPRD and regional heads/deputy regional heads).

One of the reasons the Constitutional Court chose this model is to maintain the quality of the electoral process, which is a manifestation of the sovereignty of the people. Additionally, in the last two elections (2019 and 2024), the Constitutional Court found several issues such as voter confusion due to the numerous choices, voter fatigue, the pressure of the election administration stages burdening the election organizers, and the difficulties faced by political parties in preparing their cadres.

According to Charles, the Constitutional Court's decision on the simultaneous election model broke the deadlock faced amid the reluctance of the DPR and the government to expedite the discussion of the revision of the Election Law, both legislative and presidential elections, including regional head elections. Civil society has been clamoring for lawmakers to start discussing the Election Law after the new government so that ideal, comprehensive regulations can be formed with a meaningful full participation mechanism.

"However, unfortunately until now it is still stagnant. The debate is only around the discussion led by whom, the commission or the supporting apparatus/Legislative Body. The government also does not want to be too forward, progressive in taking over this. Finally we are just waiting, waiting, how the political deals in the DPR can be resolved," said Charles.

The Constitutional Court's decision, he added, sends a message that the discussion on the revision of the Election Law must be conducted promptly. The Court has also provided a solution regarding the synchronization model that should be used in the 2029 elections, namely the separation of national elections (DPR, DPD, and president/vice president) from local elections (DPRD and regional heads). The lawmakers, Charles stated, only need to discuss the consequences of the model choice that the Court has declared constitutional.

There are several matters that need to be discussed in depth, including the institutional design of the election organizers. The Constitutional Court's decision mentioned that the work of the election organizers requires approximately 2.5 years to prepare for the elections.

"What will the institutional design of the election organizers look like, will it remain every five years or every 2.5 years? If I read the Constitutional Court's decision, this also serves as a basis to state that if it is held simultaneously once every five years, the relevance of maintaining the election organizers for that five-year period becomes questionable. Then, regarding ad hoc arrangements, will everything remain permanent or will there be some ad hoc, and to what extent will it be ad hoc? Is it only at the provincial level or at the district/city level? This will lead to a lengthy discussion," he said.

Secondly, an issue that needs to be discussed in depth is the regulation of the transition period. According to Charles, the most rational action is indeed to extend the terms of office for members of the Regional People's Representative Council and also regional heads. The practice that has been carried out by the government is to appoint acting regional heads, which has been criticized and questioned by various parties, particularly regarding the legality of the Acting Regional Head whose term can last up to 2.5 years.

"Therefore, the most rational approach is to extend the term of the existing regional heads through legislation. What is the legal legitimacy? The decision of the Constitutional Court. What is the legal principle? That in the event of a change in the law, the most favorable option should be utilized, both for the acting officials and the community, as the individuals they elected would then have their terms extended," said Charles.

Similarly, the members of the Regional House of Representatives resulting from the 2024 elections are also granted the principle of equal treatment, which is extended until the implementation of local elections.

What needs to be noted, according to Charles, is how the extension of the term of office or the transition period should not be exploited for certain advantages. Therefore, there is a need for limitations on power.

In line with Charles, the Executive Director of the Center for Political Studies (Puskapol) at the University of Indonesia, Hurriyah stated that the Constitutional Court's decision should be seen as a momentum to push for discussions on the revision of the Election Law. However, although the Constitutional Court's decision is an important moment for improving the electoral system, it must be accompanied by political will and the seriousness of the DPR and the government to promptly discuss the revision of the Election Law. Not only the Election Law, but the Political Party Law also needs to be revised considering the numerous studies indicating that the party system in Indonesia is very weak.

"If we talk in the context of political party institutions, this is also a significant homework task. What needs to be improved in order to strengthen the presidential system is the strengthening of political party institutions, including the empowerment of voters as the demos. This must be accompanied by party reform. Therefore, the agenda moving forward, after this decision, is that we need to advocate not only for the revision of the Election Law but also for the revision of the Political Party Law," said Hurriyah.

This is important considering that research from Puskapol shows that political parties are increasingly adopting more dynastic and elitist selection systems, thereby narrowing the space for fair and equitable competition, including for female candidates.

Furthermore, he stated that the Constitutional Court's decision to separate national and local elections contains at least two meanings. First, considering the experiences of the 2019 and 2024 elections, the Constitutional Court observed that the assumptions regarding the effectiveness of governance, the formation of more permanent coalitions, the strengthening of the presidential system, and budget efficiency were not proven to occur in the last two elections. Instead, what happened was a multitude of excesses caused not by the complexity of the elections but rather by political issues.

"So, how come the previous Constitutional Court ruling that attempted to encourage improvements to the presidential system, but was not accompanied by political will from policy makers, political parties, the DPR, and the government to realize democratic elections," he said.

In addition, the Constitutional Court's decision is also a manifestation of political will to restore the essence of democratic elections in Indonesia. The practice of five-box elections carried out in the last two elections has proven to weaken democratic elections.

One example is the high level of invalid votes in the legislative elections, averaging 11 percent in each electoral district, voters struggling to make their choices, thus the goal of the elections to strengthen voters' political awareness is not achieved, and the difficulty in campaigning for programs by candidates due to all public attention being focused on the presidential election.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the KPU, Muhammad Afiffudin, when asked for a response regarding the decision of the Constitutional Court, stated that his party respects the decision and will study it in detail.

When asked if the decision met the expectations of the KPU, Afif replied, "Indeed, the overlapping stages, even occurring simultaneously, technically require the KPU to work extra hard."