{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1704832,
        "msgid": "if-only-the-people-could-dissolve-political-parties-1777341272",
        "date": "2026-04-28 08:14:04",
        "title": "If Only the People Could Dissolve Political Parties",
        "author": "Ferril Dennys",
        "source": "KOMPAS",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Politics",
        "summary": "This opinion piece explores the imbalance in Indonesia's constitutional framework, where sovereignty rests with the people per Article 1(2) of the 1945 Constitution, yet the exclusive authority to dissolve political parties lies with the state through the Constitutional Court, creating a \"Constitutional Accountability Gap.\" The author argues that citizens, who fund parties via taxes, lack the legal power to initiate dissolution for reasons like financial corruption, with current mechanisms limited to ideological violations against Pancasila. Drawing a comparison to Thailand's dissolution of the Move Forward Party in August 2024, it calls for legal reforms to empower public participation in holding parties accountable, enhancing democratic representation.",
        "content": "<p>In constitutional law studies, political parties are often regarded\nas an inseparable element of democracy (Labolo &amp; Ilham, 2017).\nHowever, the relationship between the people as the holders of\nsovereignty and political parties frequently experiences distortion. In\nIndonesia, Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution affirms that\nsovereignty lies in the hands of the people. Yet, regarding the\ndissolution of political parties, that authority rests exclusively with\nthe state through the Constitutional Court (MK). An intriguing\ndiscussion arises: if the law were to provide space for the people to\ninitiate the dissolution of political parties, what would the legal\narrangements be? By valid definition, a political party is a public\nlegal entity with a strategic function as a means of representing\ncitizens\u2019 interests. Based on Law Number 2 of 2011 on Political Parties,\nparties hold special privileges to participate in elections. However,\nthese privileges should correspond to their constitutional obligations.\nCurrently, the mechanism for dissolving parties in Indonesia is\ntop-down. According to Article 68 of the Constitutional Court Law, only\nthe Government has legal standing to petition the MK for a party\u2019s\ndissolution. However, as discussed by Yusril Ihza Mahendra in a lecture\nat UI Salemba on Wednesday (22\/4\/2026), which the author attended, he\nstated that the dissolution of parties by the government through the MK\nhas never once occurred in our constitutional history. This state\nmonopoly ultimately creates what is termed a Constitutional\nAccountability Gap. The people are required to pay taxes to fund party\noperations through the state budget, yet legally, they have no power to\nterminate the contract with parties proven to have systematically\nplundered state finances. At present, the grounds for dissolution are\nvery limited to ideological aspects contrary to Pancasila, while\nfunctional integrity issues seem to escape the reach of dissolution\nsanctions. As a comparison, the dissolution of the Move Forward Party\n(MFP) in Thailand in August 2024 provides an important lesson.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/if-only-the-people-could-dissolve-political-parties-1777341272",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}