On the Ban of President and Vice President Family Members from Running: All Citizens Have the Right to Be Elected, Says DPR Member
Jakarta — A member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Ahmad Irawan, believes that every Indonesian citizen possesses the right to be elected as a presidential candidate (capres) and vice-presidential candidate (cawapres).
Irawan made these comments in response to a petition filed at the Constitutional Court (MK) requesting that the families of sitting presidents and vice presidents be barred from running in presidential elections (pilpres).
“In my view, every citizen has the right to participate in law and governance. This is a constitutional right, specifically the right to be a candidate for president and vice president,” Irawan told reporters on Saturday (28/2/2026).
He recalled that the House of Representatives had previously enacted regulations in the Local Election Law that prohibited families of sitting regional heads from running in local elections.
“That restriction on sitting officials’ families was later struck down by the Constitutional Court,” Irawan said.
According to Irawan, the Constitutional Court at that time annulled the provision on the grounds that such a prohibition constituted discrimination and an unlawful limitation.
Therefore, Irawan believes the current petition mirrors the earlier case brought to the Constitutional Court.
“Based on the Constitutional Court’s own ruling under Constitutional Court Decision Number 33/PUU-XIII/2015, such prohibitions cannot be imposed. Although that ruling concerned regional head candidates, the substance and character are similar — both involve restrictions on the families of the President and Vice President,” he stated.
If the intention is to prevent conflicts of interest, Irawan argued, a stronger legal framework would be necessary.
“If we want to prevent conflicts of interest such as nepotism, we should strengthen the legal framework to prevent abuse of power by the sitting President and Vice President (incumbent) in office. The restriction should not be applied to their families,” he added.
The petition has been registered under case number 81/PUU-XXIV/2026.
In their filing, the petitioners are asking the Constitutional Court to ban blood or marriage relatives of the sitting president or vice president from running as presidential or vice-presidential candidates.
The petitioners contend that Article 169 of the Election Law, which does not regulate restrictions on conflicts of interest, creates potential space for nepotism and abuse of power in elections.
In their petition to the court, the applicants are requesting that the Constitutional Court declare Article 169 of the Election Law unconstitutional insofar as it does not ensure that presidential and vice-presidential candidacies remain free from conflicts of interest arising from family relationships with sitting presidents or vice presidents.