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PDIP Responds to MK’s Ruling: Proposes Constitutional Engineering via Party Coalition

Following the Constitutional Court’s (MK) decision to abolish the presidential threshold, which required a minimum of 20% of DPR seats or 25% of valid national votes in the previous election for presidential candidates, the opposition Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) has issued a response.

In compliance with the MK’s ruling, PDIP’s Chairman, Said Abdullah, initially pledged full obedience. However, he also highlighted the MK’s consideration to allow political engineering regarding presidential candidate nominations.

"Regarding this ruling, we, as a political party, fully submit and comply, as the MK’s decision is final and binding," Said told reporters on Thursday (2/1/2025). However, he noted that the MK had instructed the government and the DPR to regulate, through a new law, a system that would prevent an excessive number of presidential candidates, potentially undermining the direct election of the president and vice president by the people.

Said, who also serves as the Chairman of the DPR’s Budget Agency, suggested that the nomination process for presidential candidates and running mates could still involve cooperation or coalition between political parties, with non-parliamentary parties also included, as instructed by the MK.

"All political parties have the right to propose presidential and vice-presidential candidates, not based on their DPR seat or valid national vote percentage, but through cooperation or coalition among parties, as long as it does not lead to party dominance," Said explained. He believes this system can be established through constitutional engineering, as directed by the MK, involving all parties, including those without DPR representation.

PDIP aims to strengthen political support in the DPR for the elected presidential and vice-presidential candidates. According to Said, this can be achieved without compromising each party’s right to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

"The spirit of our deliberations on Article 222 of the Election Law in the DPR is to solidify political support for the elected presidential and vice-presidential candidates to facilitate their policy agenda, budget, and legislation," Said concluded.

Furthermore, PDIP proposed constitutional engineering to tighten the qualifications for presidential and vice-presidential candidates. According to Said, these qualifications could be evaluated by state institutions or representatives of public figures.

"The MK’s ruling on constitutional engineering can also be carried out by setting qualifications for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, such as leadership, public role experience, knowledge of governance, and integrity record," Said suggested. He proposed that these evaluations be conducted by representatives of state institutions and public figures as part of the qualification process for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

The MK’s ruling in Case No. 62/PUU-XXI/2023, read out by Chief Justice Suhartoyo on Thursday (2/1/2025), declared that Article 222 of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, which established the presidential threshold, is inconsistent with the 1945 Constitution and has no legal force. The MK granted all requests in the case.

In its consideration, the MK suggested that the government and the DPR revise the Election Law to regulate the number of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, preventing excessive nominations from undermining the direct election process by the people.

This article is derived from a news report published by Detik and has been edited for clarity and SEO optimization.