---

The Respondent’s attorney Hifdzil Alim delivering a statement at the Kutai Kartanegara regent election results dispute hearing, Tuesday (2/2/2021) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Teguh.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Elections Supervisory Body of the Republic of Indonesia (Bawaslu RI) confirmed that it received a report of alleged violation of Article 71 paragraph (3) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on Election Campaign. It stipulates that regional heads are prohibited from misusing their authority regarding programs and activities that could benefit or harm any candidate pair, in their region or in another region, for six months before the candidate pairs are certified until the winning candidates are certified. After clarifying with various parties, Bawaslu RI deemed that the report against Kutai Kartanegara Regency Candidate Pair Edi Damansyah-Rendi Solihin met the conditions for abuse of authority by a regional head.

“The recommendation was in the form of disqualification. It wasn’t a recommendation of suspected violations, but of violations. The Kutai Kartanegara KPU didn’t have authority other than to follow the recommendation,” said Bawaslu RI Commissioner Ratna Dewi Pettalolo virtually at a second hearing of the 2020 regional head election (pilkada) results dispute on on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

The Panel III bench was chaired by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat alongside Constitutional Justices Manahan M. P. Sitompul and Saldi Isra. In the first session, the bench examined petitions No. 75/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 for Kutai Kartanegara Regency (by H. M. Jusuf Rizal a.k.a Mohammad Joesoef, president of the election watcher Lembaga Pemantau Lumbung Suara Rakyat or LIRA) and No. 91/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 PHP for East Kutai Regency (by Candidate Pair H. Mahyunadi-H. Lulu Kinsu).

In response to the petition by LIRA, Pettalolo said that as the Kutai Kertanegara KPU didn’t implement the recommendation, it was reported to the DKPP (Election Organizer Ethics Council). The report has been examined and is awaiting decision.

Also read: NGO Questions Mayor Election in Balikpapan and Regent Election in Kutai Kertanegara

KPU RI Commissioner Hasyim Asy’ari said of Bawaslu’s recommendation that according to the Pilkada Law, all provincial and regency/city KPUs must follow up on Bawaslu’s recommendations. He then quoted Article 140 paragraph (1) of the Pilkada Law: “The Province and/or Regency/City KPU examines and decide on administrative violations as referred to in Article 139 paragraph (2) no later than 7 (seven) days since the recommendation of the Province and/or Regency/City Bawaslu and/or Regency/City Panwaslu is received.”

“The KPU RI believes that it wasn’t the Kutai Kartanegara KPU didn’t follow up on the recommendation, but with Article 140 paragraph (1), it has examined and decided whether the candidate pair should be punished or not,” Hasyim said.

Support for Candidate Pair Insufficient

The regency’s KPU through attorney Hifzil Alim responded to the Petitioner’s claim that as an independent candidate pair they had been barred due to not having enough support to meet the required total support to contest in the election. It believes the candidate pair indeed didn’t have enough support and their party’s support was withdrawn. “So, what happened wasn’t that the candidate pair was sabotaged,” Hifzil explained.

Not a Surprise Program

Meanwhile, the Relevant Party’s attorney Anwar said that the Petitioner’s allegation of promise to raise salary was not true. The program had already been planned since November 2019 in the APBD (regional budget). “It wasn’t a surprise program and it was approved by DPRD [Regional Legislative Council],” Anwar said.

He also denied any politicization of bureaucracy. He said that the Petitioner’s allegation of the mobilization of ASN (state civil apparatuses) or officials to campaign in support for the Relevant Party in the election was inaccurate.

Opening of Ballot Boxes

At the same hearing, the panel also heard the Respondent’s response as well as statements by the Relevant Party and Bawaslu for case No. 91/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 PHP for East Kutai Regency. Through attorney Ikhwan Fahrojih, the East Kutai KPU responded to the Petitioner’s allegation that only 16 ballot boxes were opened during subdistrict recapitulation. The KPU stated that during the event, all ballot boxes had to be opened.

In response to the Petitioner’s argument regarding the printing of 20,262 e-KTP (electronic resident ID cards) that resulted in double voters, the KPU said that the data was received from the Home Ministry’s Population and Civil Registry (Dukcapil). “So, the printing wasn’t under the Respondent’s authority. When an examination was carried out, [the data] was received from the Home Ministry’s Dukcapil,” Ikhwan revealed.

First-Time Voters

KPU RI Commissioner Hasyim Asy’ari also responded to the allegation of printing of 20,262 e-KTP in the East Kutai pilkada. He said among them, 10,356 people had been recorded in the additional final voters list (DPTb). “It could be that [the list] was drafted from the last election’s DPT and the Home Ministry’s data, and then synchronized by the Central KPU. This was used as a reference to update the data on site,” he explained.

Regarding the mobility of those residents, Hasyim said that it could be possible with first-time voters. These residents, he added, on December 9, 2020 could have been eligible voters. “In this case, these first-time voters didn’t own a KTP but have met the requirements and it was included in the accelerated e-KTP printing,” he explained.

Impression of Double Voters

The Relevant Party through attorney Donal Faris also responded to the e-KTP printing. He said double KTP and double printing are two different things. The Relevant Party has requested documents from the East Kutai Disdukcapil, which shows that in June to December 2020, 36,861 e-KTP were printed with a variety of variables.

“After examination, from the KTP copies provided, out of the 129 copies, 1 was issued in 2012; 17 were issued in 2017; 30 in 2018; 24 in 2019; while only 67 were issued in 2020 and 25 were issued between June 1 and December 8, 2020. Therefore, we question the argument regarding the 20,262 e-KTP,” Donal explained.

Normal Number of Additional Voters

East Kutai Regency Bawaslu member M. Idris admitted that there was a report of e-KTP printing at the subdistrict level, such as at 4 TPS in North Sangatta. Based on Bawaslu’s investigation, there was no report of the use of additional ballots at the plenary meeting. “So, at 4 TPS—TPS 25, 35, 65, and 75—there was a normal number of [additional voters in] the DPTb,” he explained.

At the end of the hearing, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat stated that the cases would be forwarded to the justice deliberation meeting (RPH). In the event that the cases advance to the following hearing, the Registrar’s Office will inform the number of witnesses and other parties before the hearing resumes.

Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Nur R.
Uploader: Rudi

Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
Editor: NL
Managing Editor: Budi Wijayanto

Translation uploaded on 02/03/2021 17:39 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.

---