National and Local Elections Separated, DPR Awaits Political Party Decision to Discuss Election Bill

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The House of Representatives is awaiting guidance from political party leaders to promptly discuss the Draft Law on General Elections. The Constitutional Court's decision regarding the separation of elections at the national and regional levels serves as a sign that this revision needs to be completed as soon as possible.

The Vice Chairman of the Legislative Body of the DPR, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, when contacted from Jakarta on Sunday (29/6/2025), stated that the Constitutional Court's decision Number 135/PUU-XXII/2024 cannot be ignored. In fact, this decision serves as a reminder for lawmakers to promptly complete the revision of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections.

The Constitutional Court's decision read on Thursday (26/6) pertains to the separation of election administration at the national and regional levels. The Presidential-Vice Presidential elections, as well as the elections for the House of Representatives, will be held first. Following that, regional elections will be conducted to select governors, regents, and mayors, as well as members of the regional legislative councils at the provincial and regency/city levels.

The local elections are held no sooner than 2 years and no later than 2 years and 6 months after the inauguration of the president and vice president or the inauguration of members of the DPR and DPD.

This decision by the Constitutional Court should serve as a sufficient reason for lawmakers to promptly initiate discussions on the revision of the Election Law. Moreover, this ruling has implications for several laws.

"This decision by the Constitutional Court should serve as a sufficient reason for lawmakers to promptly initiate discussions on the revision of the Election Law. Moreover, this ruling has implications for several laws," stated Ahmad Doli.

The law includes, among others, the Regional Election Law, the Regional Government Law, and the MD3 Law (People's Consultative Assembly, House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council, and Regional House of Representatives).

Ahmad Doli stated that this discussion will require time to avoid issues in the series of the 2029 elections. However, he observes that there are no signs from the leadership, both from the DPR and political leaders, to discuss the Election Bill.

Therefore, Ahmad Doli reiterated President Prabowo Subianto's statement regarding the desire for improvements in the democratic system, which should be a concern for the leaders and political elites in this country.

"The President has repeatedly stated the need for improvements in the political system, and this (the revision of the Election Law) is the right time. I hope that the leaders of political parties will promptly respond to this Constitutional Court decision. Ultimately, it is the political party leaders who will decide, and we (the DPR) will implement it," said Ahmad Doli.

If it is not discussed immediately, Ahmad Doli assessed that there will be consequences waiting. The longer it is discussed, he continued, the more people will conduct a judicial review to the Constitutional Court, which will have an impact on the number of decisions that must be followed in designing this Election Law.

"The public conveys this article by article through judicial review. If it takes longer and there are more (judicial reviews), then we will lose options because the Constitutional Court's decision is final and binding," he said.

This condition, Ahmad Doli continued, will cause the discussion of the Election Bill to lose creativity and the development of articles that will be examined more thoroughly. Furthermore, this also closes the opportunity for the DPR to elaborate on the most ideal system.

Therefore, Ahmad Doli sees an urgency in the discussion of the Election Bill this time. He also does not have an issue with which council's supporting tools (AKD) will be assigned, even though in the National Legislative Program, the Election Bill is proposed by the Baleg.

"If left unchecked, eventually everything will become a decision of the Constitutional Court. Like yesterday, that decision suddenly surprised us all, right? This means there is indeed an urgency to immediately draft and discuss this law," said Ahmad Doli.

Previously, Commission II of the DPR also sent a letter to the leadership of the DPR requesting that the discussion of the Election Bill be conducted in the relevant working committee. However, there has been no follow-up, so both the Legislative Body and Commission II of the DPR are still awaiting a decision from the leadership of the DPR.

The Vice Chairman of Commission II, Zulfikar Arse Sadikin, also urged the leaders in the DPR to promptly discuss the Election Bill. Moreover, this decision from the Constitutional Court necessitates more time for the discussion of the revision of this law.

This faster discussion, Zulfikar continued, is expected to enable the DPR to accommodate many aspirations so that it can fulfill meaningful participation. A revision that is completed faster will also make the implementation of the 2029 Election series more mature.

"With the recent decision from the Constitutional Court, it should encourage us to promptly draft the Election Bill. If we have ample time, God willing, we can formulate various ideas that arise, whether from the Constitutional Court's decision, public aspirations, or other party concepts," said Zulfikar.

Therefore, Zulfikar also hopes that the leadership of the DPR will respond to the letter from Commission II so that they can begin working promptly. "Once it is returned to Commission II, we will proceed by forming a working committee and requesting assistance from the DPR Expertise Agency to prepare the academic manuscript," said Zulfikar.