Constitutional Court Affirms Direct Regional Elections by the People

The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that regional head elections (pilkada) will continue to be conducted directly by the people, guided by general electoral principles while acknowledging and respecting special or autonomous regional government units. The ruling was delivered by Chief Justice Suhartoyo during a session to pronounce the decision on Case Number 195/PUU-XXIV/2026 in Jakarta on Monday. The court declared the petition for a judicial review of Article 1, point 1 of Law Number 8 of 2015 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors (the Pilkada Law) inadmissible. In its legal considerations, the court assessed that the petitioners failed to identify any actual or potential constitutional harm that could occur within the bounds of reasonable reasoning. The petition was filed by four students: Vendy Setiawan, Lala Komalawati, Susi Lestari, and Afifah Nabila Putri. They sought to review the phrase ‘directly and democratically’ in Article 1, point 1 of the Pilkada Law, which states that the election of governors, regents, and mayors is the implementation of popular sovereignty to choose leaders directly and democratically. The petitioners argued that the petition was prompted by the re-emergence of discourse in recent years regarding the possibility of changing the mechanism for electing regional heads from a direct system by the people to a system through the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD). They assessed that such a change could potentially shift the principle of popular sovereignty, which has been realised through direct regional head elections. The students contended that the phrasing of Article 1, point 1 of the Pilkada Law was vague or multi-interpretable, potentially serving as an entry point for altering the design of local democracy without going through a constitutional amendment process. They argued that a firm stance from the Constitutional Court was necessary to guarantee the preservation of the principle of popular sovereignty. The students stated that direct regional head elections were a product of the Reformasi era, serving as a correction to the previous practice of election by the DPRD, which distanced the people from the political process.