A ruling by an Indonesian court mandating the 2024 election process be halted has drawn a backlash from civil groups and political leaders, who view the “bizarre decision” as unconstitutional and serving a politically-motivated agenda. The ruling was delivered by the Central Jakarta Court on Thursday in a civil lawsuit filed by a newly formed political party called Just and Prosperous People’s Party, or Prima, which had failed the verification process to participate in next year’s general elections. The party, established in 2020, had previously protested against the decision to the Elections Supervisory Agency and filed a civil lawsuit to the State Administrative Court, but both institutions rejected the case. But Prima received a reprieve last week as the Central Jakarta Court’s judges ruled software glitches in the General Election Commission’s system were partly to blame for the party failing to submit the requirements needed to pass verification, according to the ruling document as cited by The Jakarta Post . The document itself has not been officially published. There is a large force trying to use legal loopholes to carry out a move which is basically unconstitutional to postpone elections Hasto Kristiyanto, PDIP general secretary The three-judge panel ordered the election commission, or KPU, to halt all ongoing election processes, which pushes the polls back to 2025. Indonesia is set to vote for a new president and members of the legislative bodies on February 14 2024. KPU has said it will appeal the decision. President Joko Widodo on Monday said he supported KPU’s appeal, calling the court order “controversial”. “I have conveyed back and forth the government’s commitment to ensure this election stage is going well, the budget has been well prepared, I hope that the election process will continue,” said Jokowi, as he is popularly known. His ruling PDIP party described the decision as “unconstitutional”. “There is a large force that is trying to use legal loopholes to carry out a move which is basically unconstitutional to postpone the elections,” PDIP’s general secretary Hasto Kristiyanto said on Saturday. Prima’s chairman Agus Jabo said on Friday that he hoped “all parties respect the decision of the Central Jakarta District Court which ordered the KPU not to carry out the remaining stages of the election”. “We [shall] avoid actions, behaviour, attitudes, and or speech that can undermine the authority, dignity, and honour of the judicial [bodies],” he said. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s judicial oversight body, the Judicial Commission, on Friday said it would summon the three judges over suspicion of ethics violations. Indonesia ends Jokowi third term speculation by unveiling election date On Monday, a coalition of civil society groups called Civil Society Coalition Guarding Clean Elections filed a report to the Judicial Commission against the judges on allegations of breach of ethics. Dudy Agung Trisna, the lawyer for the coalition, said it was “odd” the verdict was delivered by the court as any legal process against state institutions should be filed to the State Administrative Court. “A District Court judge cannot decide to postpone the election for more than two years because in our law there is no reason to postpone the elections,” Dudy told This Week in Asia . “We suspect there is foul play behind this decision.” Extending Jokowi’s term? Titi Anggraini, who sits at the board of advisers at Jakarta-based Association for Elections and Democracy, said the “bizarre decision” by the court would only bolster the public’s assumption there was an orchestrated attempt to extend Jokowi’s term beyond the constitutional mandate. In Indonesia, a president can only rule for a maximum of two five-year terms. “It is difficult to deny that there is no hidden agenda to postpone the 2024 general election,” Titi said, adding that the “judge did not explain the rationality of the order to stop the stages and restart the stages.” Are Indonesia’s political dynasties back? Ask Widodo’s son, Gibran “So that the intention of the judges to postpone the election, and extend the presidential term, became very explicit,” she said. Last year, several of Jokowi’s political allies and ministers called for postponing the election and extending Jokowi’s presidential term due to a number of reasons, chiefly the high price tag associated with holding a simultaneous, one-day election. Jokowi has repeatedly denied he was seeking a third presidential term, a stance that would seem to be affirmed by his denouncing the court decision to delay the election.