JAKARTA: Concerns are growing over possible efforts to further restrict competition in the next presidential election, with speculation mounting over tighter candidate nomination requirements as lawmakers continue to delay revisions to the General Election law.
Pressure has been building on the House of Representatives to start deliberating the election law revision after months of delays and a lack of progress raised concerns that preparations for the 2029 elections, expected to begin early next year, could be disrupted.
Scrutiny intensified after lawmaker Benny K. Harman from the pro-government Democratic Party warned in a Kompas daily opinion piece of an “invisible agenda” behind the proposed revision, arguing that it could narrow voters’ choices and weaken Indonesia’s democratic system.
In the article, titled A soft coup against citizens’ constitutional rights, Benny suggested that a proposal was being considered that would require presidential and vice presidential candidates to be nominated by at least three political parties holding seats in the House.
If adopted, the proposal would effectively revive a new form of presidential nomination restriction after the Constitutional Court last year struck down the presidential threshold, which had imposed a high minimum requirement for parties seeking to nominate candidates.
Under the annulled provision, a political party or coalition must hold 20 percent of House seats or secure 25 per cent of the popular vote in the previous legislative election to be eligible to field a presidential and vice presidential ticket.
Several lawmakers from House Commission II, which oversees home affairs and is handling the election law revision, denied that such a proposal had even been discussed, insisting the commission has yet to begin deliberating provisions on presidential nomination.
“That is not true. As of now, there is no draft of the Election Bill in question,” commission member Muhammad Khozin of the National Awakening Party (PKB) told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, adding that no working committee or special committee has been formed to deliberate the revision.
Commission II chairman Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda of NasDem Party also rejected Beny’s claim, saying lawmakers were still gathering input from stakeholders and had not begun discussing the substance of the bill.
Election law expert Titi Anggraini of the University of Indonesia nonetheless denounced the reported proposal as “unconstitutional”, arguing that any attempt to restore another form of presidential nomination restriction would run counter to the Constitutional Court's intention of broadening democratic participation.
“If that were to actually happen, it would constitute defiance of a Constitutional Court ruling… [which] already allows every political party to nominate its own presidential and vice presidential candidate pair, as long as it is an election participant,” Titi said during a recent discussion.
Such a proposal, if pursued, would spark serious constitutional questions over the legitimacy of the 2029 general elections, she warned. The prolonged delay in revising the law has also fueLled concerns among pro-democracy advocates and election observers, who fear lawmakers could be seeking ways to circumvent the Court's rulings.
Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari of Andalas University said lawmakers had repeatedly demonstrated what he described as selective compliance with Constitutional Court decisions, supporting rulings that served political interests while disregarding those that expanded public rights.
He warned that pushing the revision through close to the electoral deadline without meaningful public participation would undermine democratic principles, adding that delaying both the revision and implementation of important Court rulings could itself become a form of electoral manipulation.
"Delaying revisions to the Election Law can become part of election fraud itself by shaping future electoral outcomes,” Feri said.
On the bill’s progress, Khozin said the draft remains with the House Expertise Body while Commission II is conducting a “problem inventory”.
“We want the deliberation of the Election Bill to move forward soon, but it should not be rushed because it concerns substantive and strategic matters and is related to several Constitutional Court rulings,” he added. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
