The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) believes that the Constitutional Court has failed to safeguard the sovereignty of the people and the Indonesian Constitution.
This was conveyed after the Constitutional Court rejected the entire General Election Result Dispute (PHPU) lawsuit challenging the results of the 2024 presidential election yesterday, Monday April 22.
"The YLBHI believes that the final ruling by the Constitutional Court on the presidential election (PHPU) that did not find any legal facts [supporting charges] of fraud in the 2024 elections is clear evidence of the failure of the Constitutional Court as the guardian of the people's sovereignty and the constitution", the YLBHI wrote on its official X account @YLBHI on Tuesday April 23.
In an official press release, the YLBHI said that today the Constitutional Court has become nothing more than a "Court of Power" tasked with legitimising the interests of the power and family political dynasties.
"The YLBHI suspected that the Constitutional Court's ruling in the PHPU this time round would only lead to a ruling that legitimises the political practices and deceitful elections that took place by ignoring the principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights", the group wrote.
The YLBHI also touched on the limited time available for the hearings making it difficult to prove the case thoroughly and so the Constitutional justice could not maximise the process.
"This made the presidential election dispute hearings no more than a formality and a 'legal farce to wipe away the traces of the fact of election fraud'", the statement continued.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court rejected the entire lawsuit against the 2024 presidential election result submitted by losing presidential and vice presidential candidate tickets Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.
Constitutional Court chief justice Suhartoyo said the applicant's petition was legally groundless.
"The ruling, in the exception, rejects the exception against the respondent's and related parties' in their entirety; in the main petition, rejects the petitioner's appeal in its entirety", said Suhartoyo in reading the verdict at the Constitutional Court Building in Central Jakarta on Monday.
There were three justices who had dissenting opinions, namely Saldi Isra, Enny Nurbaningsih and Arief Hidayat. Isra and Nurbaningsih were both of the view that a revote (PSU) should be held in several regions.
With the Constitutional Court's final and binding ruling, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka were officially declared the president and vice president of the Republic of Indonesia for 2024-2029 and will be inaugurated in October.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "MK Tolak Gugatan Sengketa Pilpres 2024, YLBHI: Gagal Jaga Kedaulatan Rakyat".]
