Three Proposals from Mahfud in Response to Constitutional Court's Ruling on Separation of Local and National Elections
Constitutional law expert Mahfud MD has proposed three options to respond to the Constitutional Court’s (MK) decision regarding the separation of local elections, which include regional head elections and regional legislative council elections.
During a public hearing session at Commission II of the House of Representatives, Mahfud proposed, amongst other measures, special interim elections for regional legislative councils.
Through this mechanism, Mahfud stated that members of regional legislative councils whose terms expire in 2029 would be re-elected, but with a shorter tenure of 2.5 years until 2031 to align with the next regular five-year term.
Meanwhile, for regional heads whose terms expire in 2029, they could be replaced by interim administrators. Subsequently, in 2031, regional heads and new regional legislative council members would be elected simultaneously.
“So it works like this: the regional heads are appointed and given authority by law, the regional legislative council has interim elections. That’s it, just 2.5 years,” Mahfud said during the parliamentary session on Tuesday, 10 March.
“So appoint a special regional legislative council for 2.5 years. After 2.5 years, there will be another election for the five-year term. So the simultaneity will be achieved in the year 2000, sorry 2034. It will achieve simultaneity,” he added.
The second option saw Mahfud proposing the extension of terms for both regional heads and regional legislative councils from 2029 to 2031. Mahfud emphasised that this option could be pursued through legislation.
“Just extend everything based on law, that can be done,” Mahfud said.
However, Mahfud assessed that the second option was vulnerable to rejection or unrest among political parties, particularly those who have already prepared candidates for the contest.
“Because this has the potential to cause upheaval amongst political parties, right? Then political parties would say, ‘What? I don’t want it if it’s just 2.5 years,’ or if everything is extended, ‘What? I’ve been waiting in line for a long time, why extend it again?’,” Mahfud said.
Thirdly, Mahfud proposed that regional head elections be held indirectly through regional legislative councils. However, this would still follow the principle of a transition period with a shorter tenure of just 2.5 years and re-election in 2031.
“But still with choosing what to do during the transition period. The alternative options can be combined,” Mahfud said.
The Constitutional Court’s decision on the separation of local and national elections is contained in decision number 135/PUU-XXII/2024.
The ruling stipulates that national elections (President/Vice-President, House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council) and local elections (regional head elections and regional legislative councils) will no longer be held simultaneously in five ballot boxes. Starting in 2029, national and local elections will be held separately with a minimum gap of 2.5 years, so local elections will be held in 2031 or 2032.