Election System Remains Open, PKB Candidates Call the Constitutional Court’s Decision Wise

BONSERNEWS.com – The Constitutional Court (MK) has decided to reject in its entirety the application for review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections related to the electoral system. The Constitutional Court considered that the main request to change the electoral system from an open proportional system to a closed one was deemed legally unreasonable.

The Constitutional Court’s decision was positively welcomed by various groups, including the PKB legislative candidates. Abdul Rochim said that the Constitutional Court’s decision was very wise.

“In my opinion, apart from considering legal aspects, the Constitutional Court also listens to public concerns, including new legislative candidates like me. I consider this decision of the Constitutional Court as a wise decision and has taken into account the people’s sense of justice, “said the candidate for the DPR RI who is running for the Electoral District of East Java I (Surabaya and Sidoarjo), Friday 16 June 2023.

Also Read: MK Decides Open Election System, DPR: KPU Must Run Election Stages Consistently

The young candidate, who is familiarly called Cak Rochim, said that if the elections were held behind closed doors then he and other newcomer candidates would certainly only be spectators. This is because only a handful of newcomer candidates can get serial numbers 1 or 2 in each constituency.

“If the elections are held closed, we, the novice legislative candidates, will only be happy because on average we don’t get serial numbers, so, 1 or 2. I myself am serial number 4 in the East Java Electoral District 1. With the decision being made, the lawsuit was rejected in its entirety, which means the election remains open, at least we newcomer candidates still have hope of being elected,” said Cak Rochim.

Also Read: The Constitutional Court decides on an open election system, PAN legislators: The 2024 election must be of higher quality

The former senior journalist at a national newspaper said that with the certainty that the electoral system would remain open, he has a new enthusiasm to join the guerrilla campaign to win the support of the people of Surabaya and Sidoarjo in the upcoming 2024 elections. “Yesterday, most of the legislative candidates were still waiting and seeing. If now there is no reason to wait, we have to do a gas poll,” said Cak Rochim.

This student of the Political Communication Department of the Postgraduate Program at Paramadina University, Jakarta, added that both open and closed election systems have advantages and disadvantages.

“If an open election system is seen as making the practice of money politics rife, liberal politics doesn’t mean that the system has to be replaced. The government, political parties and all of us need to improve public political education. Apart from that, make the people prosperous so they don’t think about trivial money politics. ” he said. ()