PBB Requests Constitutional Court to Amend Minister of Law's Authority: From Approving to Registering Political Party Leadership

The Central Executive Board of the Star Moon Party (PBB), based on the results of its VI Congress in Bali, has requested the Constitutional Court (MK) to amend the authority of the Minister of Law. PBB Chairman from the VI Congress in Bali, Gugum Ridho Putra, stated that his party wants the Minister of Law’s authority changed from approving to recording the leadership of political parties. “Our request was submitted in the substantive review hearing of Law No. 2 of 2008 on Political Parties at the MK,” said Gugum after attending the preliminary hearing of the substantive review of the Political Parties Law at the Constitutional Court building, as reported by ANTARA on Monday, 4 May 2026. He explained that the requested materials include, first, several provisions in the Political Parties Law, namely the word “approving” in the provision of Article 7 paragraph (1) and the word “approval” in the provisions of Article 7 paragraphs (2) and (3), and Article 4 paragraphs (3) and (4). Second, several provisions in Law No. 2 of 2011 on Political Parties, namely the word “approval” in the provisions of Article 4 paragraphs (3) and (4), the phrase “minister’s decision” in the provisions of Article 4 paragraphs (3) and (4), and the provisions of Article 32 and Article 33, tested against Article 1 paragraph (3), Article 28, Article 28D paragraph (1), and Article 28E paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution. Thus, he said, there are two matters submitted by his party for review at the MK. First, regarding the authority to approve political party leadership from the Minister of Law, which is requested to be changed to recording authority. “Why so? Because that is the main issue that we consider will continue to be a problem for political parties in the future,” said Gugum. He explained that the authority to approve who the political party leaders are belongs to the political party itself and the court, not the executive (in this case, the ministry). Then, the other petition, he said, concerns disputes that occur within political parties, especially regarding leadership, which under the law is the authority of the party court, but it does not function effectively due to various complexities. “For that, we request that it become the authority of the Constitutional Court,” he stated. The reason why the MK should be the authority to resolve internal political party disputes is, according to him, because the MK’s working system is open, its hearings can be accessed by all parties, and it has final and binding decisions.