Democrat Legislator: Presidential Candidate Nominations Must Not Be Restricted in Election Bill
Member of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party faction, Benny Kabur Harman, has highlighted the issue of restricting presidential and vice-presidential nominations in the draft Election Law (RUU Pemilu). He stated that the regulation currently being discussed by House Commission II should not contain provisions that limit presidential candidacies.
According to him, the essence of a general election is a manifestation of democracy and popular sovereignty. “This means that as many potential leaders as possible should be put forward so that the people have the freedom to assess and choose,” he said during a public discussion at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta on Tuesday, 7 July 2026.
He noted that the prohibition on limiting presidential candidacies is regulated in the Constitution. This is reinforced by two recent Constitutional Court rulings concerning the simultaneous holding of elections and the abolition of the 20 percent presidential nomination threshold.
He argued that it is illogical for the upcoming Election Bill to continue restricting presidential nominations. “In my view, this restriction is not in line with the article guaranteeing popular sovereignty in the constitution,” Benny stated.
Benny also addressed the discourse surrounding constitutional engineering being included in the Election Bill. He mentioned that the scenario of limiting presidential candidates is based solely on reasons of efficiency and avoiding commotion if every party were to nominate a candidate.
He believes this constitutional engineering is misguided. He argued that reasons of efficiency and avoiding commotion are not valid grounds for ignoring constitutional provisions. Therefore, he urged that the future Election Bill must implement the constitutional threshold as per the Constitutional Court’s decision.
“So what must be done is to redesign the presidential election so that it does not violate constitutional principles, guarantees popular sovereignty, and can produce quality national leaders,” Benny said.
As of now, House Commission II has not yet begun deliberations on the Election Bill, despite increasing pressure from activists and civil society groups. The last Public Hearing Meeting was held on 2 June, featuring Siti Zuhro and former General Election Commission Chairman Ramlan Surbakti.
On a separate occasion, Deputy Speaker of the House Saan Mustopa said that the deliberation of the Election Bill is still considering various Constitutional Court rulings related to elections. He stated that all these rulings need to be synchronised with the studies being prepared by each faction in the House.
Saan assessed that this process is necessary to ensure the resulting election regulations are truly comprehensive. He also confirmed that the deliberation of the Election Bill would not disrupt the administrative stages of organising elections. “The House will begin at the right and appropriate time,” said the Deputy Chairman of the NasDem Party.