Constitutional Court Rejects Judicial Review of Election Law on Family of President and Vice President Banned from Presidential Race
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Constitutional Court (MK) has stated that it cannot accept the petition for material judicial review of Article 169 of Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections.
The substance of the petition in case number 81/PUU-XXIV/2026 is to request that the MK prohibit blood or in-law relatives of the president or vice president in office from running as candidates for president and/or vice president.
“The petition of the petitioners cannot be accepted,” said MK Chief Justice Suhartoyo during the hearing on Thursday (16/4/2026), quoted from the MK’s official website on Friday (17/4/2026).
In its considerations, the MK assessed that the petitioners’ petitum was contradictory.
However, in another petitum, the petitioners requested that Article 169 letters a to t of Law 7/2017 be maintained in full with the phrase “candidates for president and vice president must meet all requirements from letter a to letter t.”
“The formulation of the petitioners’ petitum is unusual because it formulates contradictory or conflicting petitums,” said MK Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra when reading the legal considerations.
The petitioners’ request was also ambiguous because it asked for several articles to be maintained in full.
“Within reasonable limits of reasoning, the Court cannot grant the petitum formulated in a contradictory manner,” said Saldi again.
The petition was thus declared unclear and not accepted by the MK.
It was previously reported that two advocates named Raden Nuh and Dian Amalia filed a lawsuit against Article 169 of Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections with the Constitutional Court (MK). The lawsuit was registered under case number 81/PUU-XXIV/2026.
The two requested that the MK prohibit blood or in-law relatives of the president or vice president in office from running as candidates for president and/or vice president.
“Within reasonable limits of reasoning, the Court cannot grant the petitum formulated in a contradictory manner,” they stated in the lawsuit’s conclusion, quoted from the MK’s official website on Thursday (26/2/2026).
According to them, Article 169 of the Election Law, which does not include conflict of interest barriers, opens the door to nepotism, creates power pressures, and facilitates the rationalisation of deviations.
The petitioners also said that Article 169 of the Election Law allows any incumbent president to nominate their child, sibling, or close family member as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate in the presidential election where the incumbent president is the highest authority responsible for organising the election.
“Article 169 of the Election Law opens the door for state officials to engage in nepotism practices in the presidential election because its provisions do not include prohibitions on nepotism practices – which are categorised as a criminal act in candidate requirements, which essentially negates Indonesia as a rule of law state,” stated the petitioners.