Dispute Over Gibran's Educational Requirements in Constitutional Court: Allegations of a "Stealth Clause" and KPU Admissions

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The dispute over the educational qualifications of Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 presidential election continues to unfold at the Constitutional Court (MK).

During the inaugural hearing and subsequent examinations, the petitioners raised several concerns regarding irregularities in Gibran’s educational qualification fulfillment.

These include the introduction of a new norm in the KPU regulations that exempts proof of high school graduation for candidates who studied abroad, the reportedly expedited process for issuing equivalency certificates, and allegations of concealed information.

On the other hand, the KPU asserts that all of Gibran’s qualification documents have been verified and deemed sufficient.

Petitioners Challenge the Emergence of a "Stealth Clause" for the 2024 Presidential Election

During the initial hearing on Monday (September 21, 2026), the petitioners presented findings that suggest a structured, systematic, and planned (TST) action in meeting these qualifications.

One of the key points raised was the change in the norm outlined in Article 18, paragraph (3) of the KPU Regulation No. 19 of 2023, which suddenly exempts proof of high school graduation for candidates educated abroad.

Petitioner Denny Indrayana stated that this norm had not existed in previous elections.

The article reads:

“Proof of graduation as referred to in paragraph (1) letter n is exempted for presidential candidates and for presidential or vice-presidential candidates who do not possess proof of high school graduation from foreign schools but have proof of graduation from higher education.”

“We present evidence here showing that in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 elections, no such norm existed. This norm suddenly appeared for the 2024 election,” Denny said.

Denny further noted that the alleged 'stealth clause' is supported by public testing conducted by independent election monitoring leader Hadar Nafis Gumay.

During public testing on this regulation, it was confirmed that Article 18 paragraph (3) did not exist.

“It was mentioned that this is a stealth or loophole article,” he added.

The petitioners also questioned the rapid issuance of Gibran's equivalency certificate, which was processed in just one day.

This is notably quicker than the usual five-day processing time.