Jakarta: The verdict of the Supreme Court (MA) regarding the age requirement for regional head candidates is considered that it cannot be directly applied without a revision to the Pilkada Law. This is because the law regulates the age requirement of regional head candidates to be at least 30 years old at the time of registration, not when they are inaugurated.
Executive Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati said that the Supreme Court’s decision also cannot be applied to the 2029 Pilkada without any changes to the regulation. At a minimum, he said, there is a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court (MK) to change the article related to the age requirements for regional head candidates.
“It cannot be applied either, unless the 2029 Pilkada will revise the Pilkada Law, or the law is brought to the Constitutional Court so that the article changes,” Nisa said on Metro TV, Wednesday, June 12, 2024.
As long as the Pilkada Law has not changed, he said, the KPU can ignore the Supreme Court’s decision. Changing the rules in the law can only be done through a judicial review to the Constitutional Court.
According to Nisa, there will be legal uncertainty if the interpretation of the age requirement for regional head candidates is applied without changing the Pilkada Law.
“Lest later when the inauguration of the elected regional head waits for the person’s birthday first, so it’s okay to register not 30 years old, but the inauguration is 30 years old, it becomes uncertain of the process,” said Nisa.
The Supreme Court changed the minimum age requirements and provisions for regional head candidates to 30 years old at the inauguration for the provincial level, and 25 years old for the district / city level. Previously, this requirement applied during registration as a candidate.
This article was published on Medcom.id with the title “Perludem: Without Changing the Law, Supreme Court Decision on Age Requirements Cannot Be Enforced”, https://www.medcom.id/pilkada/news-pilkada/aNr7rAWb-perludem-tanpa-ubah-uu-putusan-ma-soal-syarat-usia-tak-bisa-diberlakukan