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JURNAL

SOSAINS

JURNAL SOSIAL DAN SAINS

VOLUME 2 NOMOR 6 2022

P-ISSN 2774-7018, E-ISSN 2774-700X

STRATEGIC ISSUES OF THE POSITION OF THE PRESIDENT 3 PERIOD IN

THE PERSPECTIVE OF STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW IN THE

RESTRICTION OF POWER

Abrillioga

, Aldian Nugraha

, Azzam. H. F

, Himy Oktafiansyah

1,2,3,4

Bangka Belitung University, Indonesia

Corresponding Author : Abrillioga

Email : abrielrumi01@gmail.com, aldiannugraha87@gmail.com,

azzamhf@gmail.com dan himyoktafian@gmail.com

Article Info :

Received : May, 27

2022

Approved : June,8

2022

Published : June, 15

2022

Keywords:

President's Term,

Presidensill,

Pragmatic Legal

Politics,

Limitation of

Power, Abuse of

Power

ABSTRACT

The subject of extending the presidential term to three terms is one that all of us are

concerned about. In this example, in the contestation of the dynamics of government and

politics in Indonesia, the discourse of the desire to change the 1945 Constitution aims to

homogenize the discourse views of the interests of power, making this an intriguing

subject to research. As a concept of preventing the authoritarian pendulum in a country,

it is required to limit the power held by a head of state and head of government,

particularly the president. The term of office for presidential candidates in Indonesia is

controlled by the country's presidential system of government. Like the current

dynamics in the Indonesian government, that dilemmas and conflicts of interest

stemming from pragmatic reasons for legal politics in Indonesia appear to want to

smoothen the constitution, namely Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution, which has

limitedly affirmed the limits of positions held by a president, namely two terms. by using

the provisions of the original intense article 37 of the 1945 Constitution to delegate to

three terms. In essence, the presidential term restriction is intended to prevent abuse of

power.

INTRODUCTION

The constitutional foundation of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,

namely the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, in its dimensions has explicitly

explained the procedures for carrying out the government system carried out by

government organs which are branches in carrying out all matters relating to the duties and

functions of state institutions both be it executive, legislative or judicial (Alfath, Pudjiastuti,

& Sunyowati, 2019). Indonesia is a country that runs a constitutional democracy that

regulates the course of government by emphasizing the balance of mechanisms in the

Indonesian government which emphasizes the limitation of power so that the nuances and

dignity of the people's sovereignty can be realized in accordance with the legal corridors

and legal certainty that apply in Indonesia (Fudin, 2021). Historically, when we talk about

the 1945 Constitution, we cannot turn a blind eye and we all know that the constitution has

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Abrillioga, Aldian Nugraha, Azzam. H. F, Himy Oktafiansyah 649

been amended four times. In accordance with the author's study and discussion that relates

to the term of office of the president, if you look at and explore the nature and meaning of

the original intense which is contained in Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution which has

undergone amendments, it is stated that "The President and Vice President hold office for

five years, and thereafter”. Can be re-elected in the same office, only for one term. It is

clear that the provisions of the constitution have limited it in a limitative manner, namely

a maximum of 2 terms in two terms of office which is a representation of the main

principles of embodiment of the presidential system adopted by Indonesia.

So that in fact countries in the world, including Indonesia itself, which upholds

constitutional democracy with the argument of the Constitution having a role in eliminating

arbitrary power as a consequence of limiting government power, thus the dignity of the

people's sovereignty and people's rights (Regilme Jr, 2019). Able to be maintained and

guaranteed in the constitution regarding its protection as stated in his journal entitled

"Presidential Term Limit Contravention", that if we look at a country that also adheres to a

part of constitutional democracy, namely the United States, it is emphasized that George

Washington as president of the United States rejects the existence of a three-term office

through a policy an unwritten law that was made by him in 1796 so that this created a

limitation in the presidency, namely two terms in the United States which was later

embodied in the provisions of constitutional law through the 22nd amendment in 1951

(Albert, 2019). Given to the president in holding office for a time span that exceeds the

constitution, what is feared is related to the impact of the problems that will be faced by

the president himself which could make him tend to abuse of power (Brown & Keller,

2018).

As we all know that the Indonesian government is currently led by Jokowidodo as

the president of the Republic of Indonesia, namely the second period for 2019-2024.

however, in terms of the issue of political dynamics in Indonesia, there is a discourse to

bring back Joko widodo as president of Indonesia for a third term, according to The author's

interpretation, of course, this has the consequence of reducing the spirit of the formulation

of the constitution through amendments which had originally been set for the presidential

term of office, which was only two terms (Fournier, 2019). As reported "President's term

of office for 3 periods, is it possible?" that this discourse is a proposal from the Executive

Director of Indo Barometer, namely Muhammad Qodari. If we look at what is stated in the

provisions of Article 37 of the 1945 Constitution that the proposed amendment to the

Constitution through amendments is the authority given to the People's Consultative

Assembly (Siburian, 2022). Through these changes, there was an issue that said that the

People's Consultative Assembly approved Joko widodo's proposal for the presidency,

namely three terms through the 5th amendment, where in fact the three-term presidential

term was unconstitutional and contrary to the 1945 Constitution. The question is whether

the spirit of the proposal considers an extension (Tino, Cacciapuoti, Capozziello, Lambiase,

& Sorrentino, 2020). President's term of office is the will and desire of the people? Or is

this only the will of the ruling political elites for the sake of political pragmatism? It is

necessary to straighten out the understanding that as a country that adheres to constitutional

democracy with all forms of policies and directions for national development, it is based

on constitutional values as the fundamental basis of the state (Voronov, Kobzar-Frolova,

Redkous, & Gogolev, 2019). So that related to the strategic issue of extending the term of

office of President Jokowidodo and the dynamics of politics in Indonesia, it is very

interesting to study in more depth through the writing of this scientific paper from the

perspective of constitutional law that intersects with the limitation of authority.

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RESEARCH METHODS

The writing method used in writing this scientific paper is normative writing by

going through literature that are relevant to the discussion and study based on the topic of

the problem raised by the author. This writing study seeks to analyze studies that are legal

in nature and material such as the rule of law, historical approaches that are relevant to

discourses and issues as well as conceptual approaches according to the procedures for

implementing the constitutional concept. By discussing the term of office of the president

on the legal aspect, comparisons with other countries with similar case studies and the

concept of state administration in the principle of implementing a presidential system of

government regarding the limits of presidential office that lead to abuse of authority.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The strategic issue of the presidential leadership position for three periods is very

warm in the community. This seems to remind us again of the leadership of President Susilo

Bambang Yudhoyono in the second period for the years 2009-2014 when the issue of

extending his three terms of office at that time arose (Barton, 2021). Likewise with the

leadership of President Jokowidodo. In my opinion, the author interprets that there are

actually things that we need to understand and criticize regarding this emerging strategic

issue which is related to the absence of a consistent consensus in the Republic of Indonesia

(Hatherell & Welsh, 2020). It has been clearly explained through the amendments to the

1945 Constitution which is explained in article 7 which is the provision of limits on the

term of office held by the president which has been mutually agreed upon (Darusman,

2018). The urgency of limiting the power of the president related to his term of office with

the argument to try to prevent the occurrence of the president's arbitrariness in running the

government. A similar statement was once expressed by Lord Acton, namely "Power tends

to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". What is meant by the nature of

restrictions related to power through regulation of terms of office is oriented to eliminating

and minimizing arbitrary actions and preventing acts of corruption within the internal

government body (Martin, Miller, Milling, & Martin, 2022).

The Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia is the highest legal basis as a legal

state based on a hierarchical level than Article 7 of Law no. 12 of 2011 concerning the

Establishment of Legislation (Wardana, Sukardi, & Salman, 2021). This means that the

constitutional basis of the 1945 Constitution is an understanding, agreement and a high

consensus in a constitutional state as outlined in the amendments to the 1945 Constitution

which should be guarded and maintained for dignity and existence in order to maintain the

status of its legal state in force in order to uphold the consensus that has been made and

agreed by the government. founder of the Indonesian nation (Ibrahim, 2022). However,

what we also need to understand is that the 1945 Constitution actually does not rule out the

possibility of an extension of the president's term of office, namely three periods in which

the proposed amendments to the 1945 Constitution can be proposed, which is described in

Article 37, explaining that the proposed amendments concerning the constitution can be

submitted at least 1/3 of the total members of the People's Consultative Assembly which

will then conduct a session to make amendments to the constitution which is attended by

at least 2/3 of the members of the People's Consultative Assembly and when deciding on

changes to the articles in the 1945 Constitution must be attended by at least 50% and added

one vote member of the People's Consultative Assembly (Widodo, Budoyo, & Pratama,

2021).

Strategic Issues Of The Position Of The President 3

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By looking at the political map in Indonesia, that pragmatic law in the general

election agenda is actually a political party which is a representation of the implementation

of the sustainability of democracy with the argument of people's aspirations trying to make

selections in the internal body in carrying candidate leaders to advance in democratic

contestation which is a logical consequence of the implementation of the system. the

presidential government adopted by Indonesia, and political parties have a strong influence

when the president determines policies in parliament. This is in line with the issues

currently circulating in Indonesia regarding the party's desire to re-elect Jokowidodo as

president into the government's pendulum for three terms. Indeed, the agenda that is echoed

is actually not unconstitutional. However, we need to see whether all of this is in

accordance with the wishes of the people or the interests of the political elite. Apart from

that, Jokowi also stated firmly that he did not want to continue the agenda of the spirit of

leadership in running the wheels of government again in a three-term position. According

to constitutional law expert, Bavitri Susanti, there is a supporting motive from the political

elite, namely the existence of a cult towards the individual President Joko Widodo and does

not want to face uncertainty if the leadership changes. In this case the author means that

when the discourse on the agenda related to President Jokowi to sit in the seat of

government for three periods will have implications for the wider community regarding the

nature and meaning of the limitation of power that has been regulated in the constitution of

the Republic of Indonesia. Three crucial problems when there is a change in the president's

term of office :

1. The magnitude of the potential for abuse of power

2. Leadership regeneration potential will be hampered

3. The shackles of innovation and progress of the Indonesian Nation

The Spirit of Amendment to the 5th Amendment to the 1945 Constitution

The rulers and political elites in the interests of legal politics in Indonesia with

pragmatic reasons in order to maintain the continuity of the nature of the implementation

of democracy want a formula for the formulation of amendments to the 1945 Constitution

related to the three-term presidential office. One of the major parties in Indonesia, PDIP,

wants this change and wants the People's Consultative Assembly to return as the highest

state institution that has the authority to regulate and determine the Outline of State Policy

as stated by Megawati Soekarno Putri in the 5th Bali Congress as the party that won the

election contestation. general public in 2019 which of course has given rise to various

conceptions of discourse from various circles of society on the wishes of the PDIP party.

If it is elaborated that, PDIP is the biggest force in the parliament that has power in the

government system in Indonesia. Not to mention, if the PDIP party forms a coalition and

consolidates, it will further strengthen the position of PDIP in the MPR with the number of

seats it has in parliament. Due to this situation, it is not impossible to carry out an

amendment agenda through the embodiment of the provisions contained in Article 37 of

the 1945 Constitution.

Volume 2, Nomor 6, June 2022

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Figure 1. Political party seats in the DPR RI 2019-2024

Source: Election House

The 1945 Constitution is resultant in nature, which means it does not rule out the

possibility of amendments made by mutual agreement. Mahfud MD: 2021 states that law

is a resultant product, which comes from developments that occur based on the political,

legal and social situations that exist in society so that the law can change according to

community conditions. Then from that, the true constitution is not final as stated by

Francois Venter because the constitution will always go hand in hand with the movement

to the constitutional system along with the running of government in the country. However,

what needs to be underlined is that if the circulating discourse wants to make changes to

the fifth amendment to the 1945 Constitution through changes to articles relating to the

presidential term of office, what needs to be considered by power holders and government

policy regulators is that they must still be able to ensure the direction and path of democracy

is in accordance with corridors that are in line with the hopes of the nation's ideals to create

a government relay in accordance with the wishes of the people by prioritizing the

legitimacy of the people, not the legitimacy of the interests of political parties alone. Which

fits the Vox populi adage, Vox Dei. Not merely wanting to pave the way on the pretext that

has been accommodated in the constitution through amendments made by the stakeholders

in power. In fact, the mandate of Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution, which has been

formulated, does not want to be repeated, as was the case during Suharto's 6-term

leadership. Indeed, the limitation of the term of office after the amendment which was

carried out four times before the formula for wanting to formulate a change in the agenda

of the fifth amendment was to try to avoid power with the nuances of authoritarianism

which puts forward a clause of the main objective, which is the mechanism of the system

of checks and balances in every institution within the wheels of government.

The dynamics of politics in Indonesia, if seen in two pendulums, namely between

the opposition and supporters of political parties, have qualifications that seek to be able to

perpetuate their power through political figures who are trusted and known to the public

and based on their previous experience in government and politics. For example, the

discourse of the three-term president is actually not a new issue, but has often been echoed,

such as the endorsement of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla in the 2019

election. The spirit of carrying out Jokowi's three-term presidential term came from

Politician Effendi Simbolon from the PDIP Faction who compared the 5 terms of Russian

President Vladimir Putin.

As for the urgency of the usefulness of the need for a transition of tenure and the

problems that will be faced if power is held in an unrestricted period of time which creates

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the conception of a term of office, it is an attempt to encourage a change in the leadership

relay which is not solely derived from the wishes of the individual, the party that bears it.

but also wants the will of the people at large. Limitations related to the position of the

president require periodic solutions to the incumbent president, and become a logical

consequence if the political parties of the president face an opposition situation. Therefore,

according to Paul (2010) in his work "If it Quacks like a Lame Duck, Can It Lead the Free

World: The Case for Relaxing Presidential Term Limits" that limiting power will minimize

the benefits of the incumbent and in a political configuration can provide space for

opportunities for other political parties regarding the change of wheels of power and

government.

Theoretically, in the Constitutional Law, there are four concepts of office for the

president and vice president, namely :

 No Re-Election : No Second Term. Countries that adhere to such as South Korea,

Turkey and Mexico

 No Immediate Re-Election: No continued term of office. Countries that follow

such as Peru and Venezuela

 Only One Re-Election : Maximum two terms of office. Countries that adhere to

such as Indonesia, the United States Republic of the Congo. A country that adheres

to this concept is a country with a presidential system of government.

 No Limitation Re-Election : There is no limitation of term of office. Adhering

countries such as Nicaragua and Benin.

The concept of limiting power actually emphasizes two aspects, namely legal

restrictions and ethical restrictions. Legal restrictions that are officially regulated in laws

and the constitution regarding the positions of president and vice president with a maximum

of two times, and ethical restrictions are restrictions that are not written down in the law

that are mutually agreed upon, such as not encouraging relatives to continue in power, This

is indeed not a violation, but ethically it should not be done. In essence, the limitation of

power that has been regulated in the constitution of the 1945 Constitution is our highest

legal basis to prevent the concentration of power which is taboo in the democratic process.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of the analysis and discussion, the author draws the conclusion

of the urgency regarding the strategic issue of the 3rd term presidential office. proposed by

a number of political interests. Indeed, in its dimensions the 1945 Constitution is not final.

However, despite the spirit of the formulation of the previous amendments which limited

the presidential term limit to two terms as described in Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution,

looking at the dynamics of politics in Indonesia where the power in the parliament is

dominated by the party that carries President Jokowi, namely PDIP, this map does not allow

this map. will lead to opportunities for change as described in Article 37 of the 1945

Constitution. However, the nuance of all this is political pragmatism. Which is where

Indonesia as a country that is oriented to a presidential system of government has regulated

the limitation of power with the aim of closing the gap for the pendulum of authoritarianism

in the wheels of government. According to the author, if this strategic issue is a discourse

and agenda that has been successfully carried out, then this will hurt the spirit of the 1998

reform struggle. Because the limitation of the president for two terms is a big mandate that

occurred during the reformation period. As a great nation, we must maintain and oversee

the spirit of reform that occurred in 1998, if this is on the agenda, then we will betray the

 
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struggle for reform which focuses on balanced justice for the people and the sustainability 
of the Indonesian nation and this is a setback from democracy such as returning and moving 
backwards. during the new order. In the form of momentum to avoid abuse of power, the 
concept of applying for office with the concept of Only one re-election is an appropriate 
concept adopted by Indonesia today to allow minimizing the practice of abuse of power by 
limiting power  as regulated  in  the  constitution  of the Unitary State  of the Republic of 
Indonesia. 
 
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