Election Law Challenged in Constitutional Court, Seeking Independent Path for DPR Candidates Without Political Parties

JAKARTA - The Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Pemilu) has once again been challenged at the Constitutional Court (MK). The petition, numbered 109/PUU-XXIV/2026, requests that nominations for legislative elections be allowed through an independent path, that is, without political parties (parpol). In the preliminary hearing held at the Constitutional Court building on Thursday (2/4/2026), petitioner M Havidz Aima argued that there is a constitutional issue in Article 240 paragraph 1 letter a and Article 241 of the Election Law, which mandate that all legislative candidates must be endorsed by political parties. “These provisions raise constitutional issues regarding the extent to which space for citizen participation in the political representation process can be opened in Indonesia’s democratic system,” said Havidz. According to this Professor of Management at Universitas Putra Indonesia YPTK Padang, this coercive practice results in citizens who are not part of party structures having no opportunity to nominate themselves. Another reason is that Havidz considers the articles to contradict the principle of people’s sovereignty as enshrined in Article 1 paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution. That article states: “Sovereignty lies in the hands of the people and is exercised according to the Constitution.” “Opening opportunities for citizens to nominate themselves as members of the DPR RI aligns with the principle of people’s sovereignty and equal opportunities in governance.”