Tonight, Denny Indrayana’s Lawsuit Over Gibran’s Eligibility Criteria Heard by Constitutional Court

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Constitutional Court (MK) will conduct a preliminary hearing on the 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Dispute (PHPU) case tonight, Monday (21/9/2026).

According to the official MK website, case Number 01/PHPU.PRES-XXIV/2024 will be held at MKRI Building 1, 2nd Floor, Jakarta, at 7:00 p.m. Western Indonesia Time, with the agenda being the Preliminary Examination.

The case was officially registered with the MK on September 17, 2024, following the formal submission by the petitioners on September 10, 2024.

The petitioners are a coalition of community groups and organizations including the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, Partai Ummat, Denny Indrayana, the Forum of Retired TNI Soldiers, Subhan, Bonatua Silalahi, and Tiurma MS Sihombing.

This lawsuit centers on the validity of Gibran Rakabuming Raka's educational qualifications as a vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

In their petition documents, the petitioners highlight allegations that Gibran's educational qualifications do not meet the requirements set forth in Article 169 letter r of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections.

The petitioners emphasize that these qualifications are imperative and must be validly met from registration through to the official candidate selection.

Based on this, they request the MK Panel of Judges to declare that Gibran’s appointment as vice-presidential candidate is legally flawed.

"Declare the appointment of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as the vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 General Election to be legally flawed from the outset and therefore without binding legal force," the petitum states.

Furthermore, the petitioners urge the MK to annul several legal products issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU), including KPU Decision Number 1632 of 2023 on Candidate Pair Determination, Decision Number 1644 of 2023 on Ballot Numbers, Decision Number 360 of 2024 on National Election Results, and Decision Number 504 of 2024 on the Appointment of the Elected Candidate Pair.

In addition to nullifying KPU decisions, the petitioners also request the MK to nullify Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s inauguration as Vice President by the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Referring to Article 8 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, the petitioners instruct the MK to order the MPR to promptly convene a session to elect a new Vice President from two candidates proposed by the President within 60 days of the ruling announcement.

Petitioners ask MK judges to fully grant their petition

Constitutional law expert Denny Indrayana and several other petitioners have raised concerns about Gibran’s educational requirements as vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

"We found initial evidence indicating that the vice-presidential candidate paired with candidate number 02 does not meet the educational qualification, which is a minimum of high school diploma or equivalent," Denny said at the MK building on Thursday.

In the petitum read by Refly Harun as legal counsel, the petitioners requested the MK to fully approve their petition.

Refly stated that the petitioners acknowledge the PHPU lawsuit must be filed within three days after the presidential election results are ratified by the KPU, as stipulated in PMK 5/2023.

However, they hope the MK will prioritize substantive justice.

"I want to describe this as a legal breakthrough or constitutional breakthrough," he said.

Reason MK is hearing the case on Gibran's vice-presidential eligibility

Spokesperson and Constitutional Court Judge Enny Nurbaningsih explained the MK’s rationale to hear the 2024 presidential election dispute petition filed in 2024 is because the MK, as a judicial institution, is prohibited from dismissing a petition without examination and trial.

"According to the principle that courts must not reject a case, the MK must accept every petition submitted for trial," said Spokesperson and MK Judge Enny Nurbaningsih, as reported by Tribunnews, Friday (11/9/2026).

Enny added that the MK’s stance on the presidential dispute petition would proceed through a preliminary hearing and then be decided at the Judges’ Deliberation Meeting (RPH).

"The MK’s decision regarding cases received after the preliminary hearing will be made at the RPH, in accordance with procedural law," she said.