TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia responded to the Constitutional Court's decision on the age requirements of the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the upcoming general elections. He claimed to respect the verdict because, at the end of the day, the citizens are the ones who vote.

"High-quality and experienced youths deserve room to contest in the democracy," Bahlil said in his Instagram post at @bahlillahadalia on Monday.

Yesterday, MK granted the 40-year-old age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates with the exception of experience as a regional head. The verdict was given for case No. 90/PUU-XXI/2023 submitted by a student from Universitas Sebelas Maret Almas Tsaqibbiru.

Chief Judge MK Anwar Usman stated that Article 169 (q) of the Elections Law No. 7 of 2017 contracts the Constitution and has no binding power if it is not interpreted as an aged minimum of 40 years or has/is sitting in an elected office including the local elections.

Meanwhile, one of the MK Judges Guntur Hamzah stated that the legal consideration for this decision was the fact that several countries have regulated a lower age for their elected leaders. "The global trends for leaders are shifting to younger people, thus, logically, people under 40 years old may hold office as the president or vice president as long as they are eligible under specific equal qualifications," he said.

The verdict invited criticism from various parties, including the social-political analyst from UNJ Ubedilah Badrun who claimed that MK's decision would pave the way for President Jokowi's political dynasty. He also stated that the decision is seriously flawed substantively and qualitatively since he believed regents and mayors do not possess the required experience to become a president or vice president.

RIRI RAHAYU | ADE RIDWAN YANDWIPUTRA

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