Constitutional Court holds preliminary hearing on judicial review of Political Parties Law by PBB
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Constitutional Court (MK) held a preliminary hearing on the judicial review of Law Number 2 of 2008 on Political Parties (Parpol), filed by the Central Executive Board (DPP) of the Moon and Star Party (PBB) from the VI Bali Congress, on Monday.
The petitioners in this case are Gugum Ridho Putra, as Chairman of the DPP PBB from the VI Bali Congress, and Dega Kautsar Pradana, as External Deputy Secretary-General. The petition was registered with the MK on Monday (20/4) under number 146/PUU-XXIV/2026.
The hearing was presided over by a panel of three constitutional justices, chaired by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih, with panel members Ridwan Mansyur and Asrul Sani.
“The preliminary hearing for number 146/PUU-XXIV/2026 related to the judicial review of political parties is hereby declared open and open to the public,” said Enny while striking the gavel three times.
During the hearing, the panel of constitutional justices invited the petitioners to present the main points of their petition.
In this case, the articles challenged by the petitioners in the Political Parties Law concern the authority of the Minister of Law in approving changes to the composition of party leadership at the central level.
The judicial review focuses on the word “mengesahkan” (approve) in the provisions of Article 7 paragraph (1) and the word “pengesahan” (approval) in the provisions of Article 7 paragraph (2), as well as the phrase “keputusan menteri” (minister’s decision) in the provisions of Article 23 paragraph (3), Article 7 paragraphs (2) and (3), and Article 4 paragraphs (3) and (4) of the Political Parties Law, and the provisions of Articles 32 and 33 against Article 1 paragraph (3), Article 28, Article 28D paragraph (1), and Article 28E paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution.
Previously, Gugum stated that the lawsuit was filed due to dynamics emerging within PBB after the VI Bali Congress was held.
According to Gugum, his side had submitted a request for approval of changes to the DPP PBB leadership composition to the Minister of Law on 9 March 2026. However, on 12 March 2026, another party submitted a similar request based on the results of the Party Council Deliberation (MDP).
Gugum noted that the current authority of the Minister of Law to approve changes in party leadership composition allows the minister to determine who is entitled and who is not entitled to be approved as leaders.
“Yet, who is entitled and who is not should be determined first by the political party itself, as it knows best. Second, whether it is valid or not is the authority of the courts, not the executive (Minister of Law),” he explained.
In this preliminary hearing, after listening to the main points of the petition, the panel of constitutional justices provided inputs for improvements to the petition that form the material of the petitioners’ challenge.