Election Postponement Violates the Constitution: Ex-Vice President

Former Vice President, HM Jusuf Kalla, said that postponing the Presidential and Vice-Presidential General Election and the Legislative Election which had been set for February 14, 2024, would be a violation of the constitution.

"That (postponing the election) is not following the constitution," he said, responding to the political discourse to reporters in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Friday, March 4, 2022.

The former chairman of the Golkar Party emphasized that there are rules in the constitution that must be obeyed, to carrying out the democratic process, one of which is holding elections every five years. "We have a constitution, we obey the constitution. That's all. If you want to extend it, you must obey the constitution unless the constitution is changed," said the general chairman of the Indonesian Mosque Council.

The election postponement proposed by some political party elites to one or two years. Of course, not everyone agrees with the discourse. "Largely disagrees," he said.

Furthermore, JK argues, in historical records, the Indonesian nation has a long experience of democracy though it is sometimes colored by conflict. At the moment, everything is still running safely and can be controlled. Obeying the constitution is a more appropriate effort.

"We have too many conflicts. We obey the constitution. That's all," he said.

He is worried that the discourse of postponing the election will lead to new problems, because there are allegations that other parties want to use it for their interests. “The constitution is every five years. If you don't obey the constitution, this country will be noisy," he said.

The discourse on the 2024 General Election postponement rised after the announcement of the KPU's schedule determination. The idea was initiated by the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives as well as the general chairman of the National Awakening Party, Muhaimin Iskandar.

This idea was also responded to by some political parties' leaders such as the General Chairperson of the Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto and the General Chairperson of the National Mandate Party Zulkifli Hasan. However, many parties do not agree on postponement.