Material Test of Election Law: Petitioner Seeks Regulation of Excessive Promises in Campaign Prohibition

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The petitioner of the material test of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law), Jangkung Sido Sentosa, is requesting that excessive campaign promises be regulated within the Election Law.

This request is registered under Case Number 358/PUU-XXIV/2026.

“Thus, if this petition is granted, there will be no more false promises or overclaims with exaggerated statistical data in the elections, such as the example cited by the petitioner of millions of job opportunities,” said Jangkung during the hearing for the petition's amendment at the Constitutional Court (MK) building in Jakarta on Monday (19/10/2026).

The petitioner emphasized that this request is not intended to attack the country's leaders.

It aims to thoroughly examine the provisions of the a quo.

Jangkung explained that the urgency of amending the campaign prohibition by adding the letter 'k' is seen as a protection of legal certainty, the right to accurate information, and the right to a fair and honest election as stated in Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28F, and Article 22E paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

He confirmed that the legal subjects in this petition include presidential and vice presidential candidates as well as candidates for regents and mayor.

Furthermore, it encompasses electoral participants from political parties to candidates for members of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) and local legislative councils, as well as national campaign teams or other entitled names.

In this amendment hearing, the petitioner presented improvements to several sections, including the addition of the latest Constitutional Court regulations.

Meanwhile, regarding legal standing, the petitioner attached a certificate of permanent voter registration from the Election Commission of Blora Regency.

The norms being tested are also aligned with the Constitutional Court Decision No. 65/PUU-XXI/2023.

In the petition's rationale (posita), the petitioner echoes the ratio decidendi of Decision No. 65/PUU-XXI/2023.

“Decision 65 discusses public facilities used in campaigns, whereas the a quo petition requests for false promises to be included in the campaign prohibition,” Jangkung stated.

Petition

The petitioner requests that the Constitutional Court grants the entirety of the petition.

The petitioner also requests that the MK declare Article 280 paragraph (1) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia 2017, No. 182, Supplement to State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia No. 6109) to be in conflict with the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and lacks legal binding power conditionally as long as it is not interpreted to 'also include prohibition for implementers, participants, and election campaign teams from making false promises or unfounded factual claims that can be verified and proven to conflict with relevant state data or official documents, while still excluding vision, mission, work programs, opinions, aspirations, political targets, predictions, or mere policy ideas.'

The petitioner also requests that the MK order the publication of this decision in the State News of the Republic of Indonesia as appropriate.