The KPU’s attorney Sudi Prayitno delivering the KPU’s statement at the second hearing of the West Sumatera Province regional head election results dispute, Tuesday (1/02/2021) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.
JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The West Sumatera Provincial General Elections Commission (KPU), or the Respondent, denied the allegations by the Governor Candidate Pairs No. 1 Mulyadi-Ali Mukhni (Petitioner of case No. 129/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021) and No. 2 Nasrul Abit-Indra Catri (of case No. 128/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021) through attorney Sudi Prayitno at a hearing on Monday, February 1, 2021 in the plenary courtroom. The Panel I hearing, presided by panel chair Chief Justice Anwar Usman alongside Constitutional Justices Enny Nurbaningsih and Wahiduddin Adams, presented the responses by the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).
Sudi began his statement by denying the assertion made by Candidate Pair No. 1 Mulyadi-Ali Mukhni. The Respondent believe the petition was obscure, especially the demand of the Petitioner, and that the Petitioner didn’t elaborate the background to the petition as they didn’t request the Court to certify the vote counting results to follow the Petitioner’s version. Their demand for a revote at all polling stations (TPS) was deemed lacking grounds, which are regulated in Article 111 of Law No. 1 of 2015 and its amendment.
“During the 2020 West Sumatera governor election, from the preparation to the implementation, not any part of the election process—the code of ethics, the administration, the dispute, and the criminal acts—affected the vote margins between the candidate pairs in a way that significantly influenced the certification of the winning candidate,” he explained.
The allegedly hasty and forced declaration of the Petitioner as suspects by Bawaslu, which could have affected potential voters’ choice in the election and caused them to abstain or to redirect their votes for other candidate pairs, was inaccurate and legally groundless, Sudi said. It was because criminal acts regarding the election was handled faster than general criminal acts. This, he added, was according to Article 135 paragraph (2) and Article 146 paragraph (3) of Law No. 1 of 2015.
In addition, the Respondent said a candidate’s electability in the regional election was not contingent on their status as a suspect because in South Pesisir Regency in West Sumatera, a candidate who was a defendant in a case had a higher electability than the other candidates and was certified by the regency’s KPU as the candidate pair with the most votes. A candidate in the 2015 regency election of Solok was an ex-convict but also earned the highest number of votes.
Sudi said the negative press about the Petitioner should have been responded with a right to reply, as regulated in Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press. The law regulates the right to respond to or deny an allegation that damages one’s reputation. Other legal avenues are also available.
In the petitum, the West Sumatera KPU appeal to the Court to grant the entire objection, to reject the Petitioner’s petition’s subject matter, and to declare that the West Sumatera Province KPU’s decree accurate and binding.
Not KPU’s Authority
The West Sumatera Province KPU made a similar response to case No. 128/PHP.GUB-XIX/2020 by Nasrul Abit-Indra Catri at the same hearing. The Respondent stated that the Petitioner’s allegations were related to administrative as well as criminal violations regarding campaign funding, the health screening team’s arbitrariness, the voting and vote counting process, as well as the vote counting recapitulation process at the provincial level, which are all under the purview of Bawaslu.
During the election, however, there were no alleged violations of code of ethics by the election organizers, administrative violations, election dispute, and criminal violations that affected the candidate pairs’ vote acquisition. Sudi also added that Candidate Pair No. 4 Mayeldi-Audy Joinaldy (Relevant Party) didn’t commit any violations.
Supervisory Role
Meanwhile, Bawaslu through Surya Efitrimen stated that on December 19-20, 2020 Bawaslu had supervised the certification of recapitulation and vote counting results of the 2020 West Sumatera governor election by the KPU. It has also received a copy of the KPU’s decree on the certification of the recapitulation of the 2020 st Sumatera governor election dated December 20, 2020.
Bawaslu issued an investigation warrant to Mabes Polri (National Police Headquarters), which is affiliated with the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu), for assistance in the investigation on the Petitioner. Based on the investigation, Mabes Polri then issued a letter raising status of Mulyadi (Petitioner) as a suspect.
Responding to the allegation by the Petitioner of case No. 128/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021 regarding the health screening of the candidate pairs, Bawaslu said it had supervised the health screening. One candidate couldn’t follow the health screening. It also stressed that all witnesses didn’t sign the recapitulation results but attended the process.
Response by Relevant Party
Candidate Pair No. 4 Mahyeldi Ansharullah- Audy Joinaldy (Relevant Party) appealed to the Court to reject the petition No. 129/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021. Attorney Muhammad Taufik said the Petitioner didn’t elaborate on the error of the vote counting results announced by the Respondent nor did they reveal their version.
“In essence, the Petitioner only requested a revote at all TPS throughout West Sumatera Province but didn’t explain the mistakes by the Relevant Party or the KPU in relation to the vote counting at all levels of election. If they had, the mistakes must be proven,” he said.
In addition, the Petitioner’s allegation of the Relevant Party was a one-sided, legally groundless claim. Conversely, the determination of Mulyadi as a suspect had followed existing legislation.
At the preliminary hearing, Mulyadi-Ali Mukhni, who filed the petition No. 129/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021, stated that the 2020 gubernatorial election (pilgub) of West Sumatera Province was not democratic nor was it based on the election principles of honesty and fairness (jurdil). Their attorney Veri Junaidi said that the election didn’t follow the principle of equality since the other candidate pairs and the election organizers had committed violations. He added that Gakkumdu—consisting of Bawaslu, the prosecution office, and the police—has unilaterally declared the Petitioner a suspect.
Meanwhile, Petitioner No. 128/PHP.GUB-XIX/2021 Nasrul Abit-Indra Catri stated that the 2020 gubernatorial election of West Sumatera Province was invalid because the voting up to the vote count recapitulation was legally defective. He also alleged that Candidate Pair No. 4 Mayeldi-Audy Joinaldy had committed a serious electoral violation in relation to individual campaign donation.
The Petitioner alleged that aside from violating the campaign donation limit, Candidate Pair No. 4 had given a false statement in the campaign finance report (LPPDK). Existing legislation stipulates that individual campaign donation that exceeds the limit should be reported to the KPU and submitted to the state treasury.
Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
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Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
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Translation uploaded on 02/01/2021 19:44 WIB
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Monday, February 01, 2021 | 16:31 WIB 259