Kalla Expects Constitutional Court to Quickly Make Way for His Third Term as VP
Jakarta. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has expressed hope that the Constitutional Court will amend a regulation that imposes a two-term limit on the presidency and vice presidency, before Aug. 10 — the last day for candidates to register for next year's presidential election.
The United Indonesia Party (Perindo) last week filed a petition to the Constitutional Court to revise Article 169 of the 2017 Election Law, which prohibits the president and vice president from seeking a third term.
Kalla is now serving his second term as vice president and is seen as an ideal running mate for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in 2019.
Before his current tenure as vice president, Kalla, who turned 76 in May, served as vice president to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in 2004-09.
"The most important thing is that the verdict will be out before the 10th [of August]," Kalla said in a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday (02/08).
"However, in the end, it really depends on Mr. Jokowi's final assessment," he added.
According to the court's secretary general, Guntur Hamzah, to complete a judicial review takes on average between three months and two years.
"It depends on the complexity of the case handled by the court judges," Guntur told reporters, as reported by tirto.id.
According to Guntur, the fastest decision by the court was on the national electronic identity cards (e-KTP), which only took only 30 hours.
Jokowi has already confirmed he will contest next year's presidential election, but the name of his running mate remains unknown.
Kalla has been endorsed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest party in the coalition that has nominated Jokowi.
The coalition consists of the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), the National Democratic Party (NasDem), the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) and the United Indonesia Party (Perindo).
Kalla is a senior Golkar Party politician.
"Endorsing JK [Jusuf Kalla] would reduce the polemic between political parties that endorse Jokowi and are ambitious to [have their members] become Jokowi's vice president," PDIP-P executive board chairman Andreas Hugo Pareira said, as quoted by Beritasatu.
Next year, Jokowi is most likely to compete with his 2014 election contender Prabowo Subianto, a retired army general and founder of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).
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