Constitutional Court Rules Regional Elections Must Remain Direct

The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that the election of regional heads, or Pilkada, must continue to be conducted directly by the people. The ruling was delivered during a hearing for case number 195/PUU-XXIV/2026 in Jakarta on Monday.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated that the mechanism must adhere to the principles of general elections while recognising and respecting the special or unique characteristics of certain regional government units.

Consequently, the Court declared that the petition for a judicial review of Article 1, point 1 of Law Number 8 of 2015 concerning the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors (the Pilkada Law) was not accepted.

In its legal considerations, the Court found that the petitioners had not identified any actual or potential harm to their constitutional rights within the bounds of reasonable reasoning. The Court also referred to its legal considerations in previous rulings, including MK Decision Number 072/PUU-II/2024, 073/PUU-II/2004, and MK Decision Number 110/PUU-XXII/2025.

The petition was filed by a group of students who challenged the phrase “directly and democratically” in Article 1, point 1 of the Pilkada Law. The petitioners argued that the provision was formulated in a vague or multi-interpretable manner, which could serve as a gateway for altering the design of local democracy without going through a constitutional amendment process. They expressed concern that this ambiguity could potentially shift the principle of popular sovereignty, which has been realised through direct elections by the people, towards an indirect election mechanism by the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD).