Constitutional Court Asked to Bar Family Members of President and Vice President from Running in Presidential Election, PAN Calls for Objectivity

Deputy Chairman of the PAN’s Central Executive Board, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, responded to a lawsuit requesting the Constitutional Court (MK) to prohibit family members of the President or Vice President from running in the Presidential election. He asked the MK judges to be objective in deciding this case.

“In this context, the constitutional judges must provide an objective assessment of the case,” Saleh told reporters on Wednesday (February 25, 2026).

According to him, the MK judges must ensure that the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs are not overlooked. In addition, the judges must look comprehensively at the constitutional rights of other citizens.

“For example, if the lawsuit is accepted, then there will certainly be constitutional rights of other citizens that are also overlooked. For example, the constitutional rights of the children of the President or Vice President who want to run as President or Vice President,” Saleh explained.

He added that everyone has the same position before the law and government, including in being nominated or running as President and Vice President.

“We hope that the nine constitutional court judges who are currently sitting there will provide an objective assessment using all perspectives so that the decisions or rulings that will be given can truly fulfill the sense of justice for all parties and for all the people of Indonesia,” Saleh said.

However, Saleh believes that in general, if the children of the President or Vice President run as President or Vice President, there will be an unfairness in the implementation of the election. This is because when the election is held, there are concerns about abuse of power and authority.

“Therefore, these concerns must also be a consideration for all parties,” he said.

Saleh believes that there is a nuance of nepotism in the current Election Law. “We do not see the practice of nepotism in the current election law, but indirectly, the nuance of nepotism can be said to exist in the current law,” Saleh said.

“But because this nuance needs to be proven, it needs to be tested at the MK so that all rules that are considered to benefit the ruling family can be anticipated, and thus the implementation of democracy in Indonesia is based on the principle of justice,” he continued.

Previously, a citizen named Raden Nuh and Dian Amalia filed a lawsuit against the Election Law to the Constitutional Court (MK). They asked the MK to prohibit family members of the President or Vice President from running as candidates for President and/or Vice President.

Based on the MK’s official website on Wednesday (February 25, 2026), the lawsuit was registered with case number 81/PUU-XXIV/2026. The two are suing Article 169 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections.

The petitioners asked the MK to:

• declare Article 169 of the Election Law in conflict with the 1945 Constitution and does not have binding legal force unless it is interpreted that the requirements for nomination as President and/or Vice President must be free from conflicts of interest arising from family relations with the President and/or Vice President who are in office during the same term.