Yusril: Government Awaits Completion of Election Bill Draft in DPR

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Yusril Ihza Mahendra revealed that the government is awaiting the completion of the draft of the Bill on General Elections (RUU Pemilu) in the House of Representatives (DPR) of the Republic of Indonesia.

“The draft is still not complete in the DPR up to now. Once it is finalised, we will begin discussions,” Yusril said when met in Jakarta on Saturday.

He assessed that it would be better if the RUU Pemilu were discussed as soon as possible, as ideally, the bill should be completed within two years and six months of the current government’s term.

This is because, he said, approximately two years and six months from now, the elections will be approaching. Nevertheless, this will very much depend on how quickly the government and DPR can discuss the RUU Pemilu.

He did not deny that there are several significant changes to the Election Law resulting from Constitutional Court (MK) decisions, which will require extensive discussions.

Initially, Yusril explained, the government had prepared a draft of the RUU Pemilu, but after discussions, it was agreed that the draft would come from the DPR.

“So, the DPR will take the initiative to submit it, and then the President will appoint a counterpart to discuss the bill,” he stated.

Previously, Deputy Chairman of the DPR RI Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said that his side does not want to rush the discussion of the Bill on Amendments to Law Number 7 of 2017 on Elections.

This is because he wants the resulting Election Law to be truly good. The DPR leadership, he said, is currently asking political parties to conduct simulations of the electoral system to support the discussion of the bill.

“We are asking political parties to conduct simulations, both those in parliament and non-parliamentary ones not in parliament. So, let’s not rush it,” Dasco said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/4).

Even though the stages for the 2029 Elections are getting closer, according to him, those stages can still proceed using the existing Election Law.

In addition, he said, the discussion of the RUU Pemilu cannot be rushed because there are already many MK decisions that have annulled and ruled on various aspects of the electoral system.