---

Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto delivering his closing address in the Technical Assistance Program on the Procedural Law of the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution for Bawaslu Class II on Saturday (17/11) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Bogor. Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.

The statement and recommendation from Bawaslu in elections results dispute resolution (PHPU) hearings are important references for the Constitutional Justices. This was said by Constitutional Court Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto when closing the Technical Assistance Program on the Procedural Law of the 2019 Elections Results Dispute Resolution for Bawaslu Class II on Saturday (17/11/2018) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Bogor.

Litigants in elections results disputes come to the Constitutional Court bringing a wealth of evidence. “In [assessing] evidence, the Court needs the statement and recommendation from Bawaslu. [Several regional re-election rulings] (in 2018) were on Bawaslu’s recommendation,” he said.

He also said that one of the Court’s missions was to enforce the Constitution through a modern judiciary, where the litigants are professional, hence the technical assistance program. “This [program] serves to realize the hope that all elements of society are friends of the Court. Hopefully the same perception will be realized in the Court proceedings through [this program],” he said.

PHPU Procedural Law

The previous day, Friday (16/11), Court Registrar Kasianur Sidauruk delivered a presentation on the Procedural Law of the 2019 PHPU. Those eligible to be petitioners in 2019 PHPU are the political parties contesting the House of Representatives (DPR) and Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) seats, individual DPR and DPRD candidates in the same political party who received written approval from the party chairperson and secretary general or equivalents.  This also applies to local parties contesting in the elections.

The Relevant Party in the 2019 PHPU may be the political parties with interest in the petition, individual DPR and DPRD candidates in the same political party who received written approval from the party chairperson and secretary general or equivalents, the local political parties with interest in the petition, as well as individual DPR and DPRD candidates in the same local political party who received written approval from the party chairperson and secretary general or equivalents.

The petition is written in bahasa Indonesia and signed by the Petitioners, and made into copies. It is then signed by an attorney.

“The petition contains the name and address of the petitioner and/or attorney, their e-mail address, phone number, NIK (resident identity number) according to the e-ID, as well as the advocate card for the attorney. Clear elaboration of the Court’s authorities, legal standing of the petitioner, statement as contesting political party and DPR and DPRD candidates, deadline of the petition, subject of the petition, elaboration on error of the vote count declared by the Respondent and the accurate vote results according to the petitioner, and petitum [are attached],” he explained.

Kasianur also spoke on The Mechanism, Stages, and Activities of the 2019 PHPU. He had previously mentioned that the 2019 concurrent elections were a result of the Constitutional Court Decision No. 14/PUU-XII/2013 on January 23, 2014. He further mentioned that the Court had been preparing since May 8, 2018 to receive PHPU petitions on DPR, DPD, and DPRD.

Bawaslu’s Role

On the second day, Bawaslu Legal Division Coordinator Fritz Edward Siregar spoke about “The Evaluation of the 2018 Regional Election and the Preparation for the 2019 Elections.” He stressed that the Bawaslu does not work under only one law. Bawaslu must consider many things, including social and political factors, rogue political parties, etc.

Fritz also explained that Bawaslu received reports of At least by 5,173 violations in the 2018 regional election, or 1,758 reports and 3,415 findings. He further explained that in the electoral dispute hearings, the Constitutional Justices only focus on questioning the election results, but also the performance of the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) in carrying out election oversight.

Fritz also spoke about the preparation to give statement in Court, i.e. collecting and managing data on the results of supervision and implementation of elections at every level, making a written statement; consulting the Bawaslu for Provincial Bawaslu; and consultating with the Provincial Bawaslu and District/Municipal Bawaslu. He highlighted the need for the results of supervision in election results dispute resolution.

He also evaluated the statement delivery in Court hearings for the 2018 regional election. Understanding of the format of written statement and on the subject of petition based on Bawaslu Regulation No. 22 of 2018 and the Constitutional Court Regulation No. 6 of 2018 is necessary. In addition, evidence must be mentioned in all points of statement from Bawaslu, and be attached in the written statement.

“The written statement must be comprehensive, describing factual conditions completely from several aspects, preventive, supervisory, and follow-up aspects, along with the evidence,” he said.

Implementation of Elections

General Elections Commission (KPU) member Hasyim Asy’ari talked about “Issues of 2019 Elections.” he said that election organizers such as KPU and Bawaslu are managers of conflicts. He laid out three principles of election implementation: comprehensive, valid, and accurate. This means that eligible citizens must vote in the elections and the final voters list (DPT) must be derived from valid date on eligible citizens.

Around 150 participants from nine provinces (Aceh, Banten, Jambi, Riau, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara) participated in the three-day program. Several speakers from the KPU, Bawaslu as well as constitutional justices, Constitutional Court substitute registrars and researchers will present in the program on The Issues and Mechanism of Supervisory and Resolution of 2019 Election Disputes, Potential Problems in the Implementation of the 2019 PHPU, The Procedural Law of the 2019 PHPU, The Mechanism, Stages, and Activities of the 2019 PHPU, as well as Techniques of Drafting Bawaslu Statement.

On Saturday (17/11), participants practiced drafting the Bawaslu statement with the help of facilitators who are Constitutional Court substitute registrars, researchers, and staff of the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center. (Lulu Anjarsari/Yuniar Widiastuti)

---