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The Respondent’s attorney reading out the response at the second hearing of the South Konawe election results dispute, Wednesday (3/2/2021) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The South Konawe General Elections Commission (KPU) denied the allegation of vote buying in the election at the second hearing of the regional head election (pilkada) results dispute case No. 34/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 in the Panel I Courtroom. Attorney Baron Harahap said the allegation by Candidate Pair Muh. Endang-Wahyu Ade Pratama Irman (Petitioner) was groundless without any valid evidence.

“The a quo case has been processed and terminated by Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) under the ground of insufficient evidence. This can be seen from the A13 form that the South Konawe Regency Bawaslu issued on the termination of the case,” Harahap said before the panel chaired by Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

He also said that if the Petitioner had evidence on alleged vote buying, they should’ve used it to report it to Bawaslu or Gakkumdu (Integrated Law Enforcement). “Or if the Petitioner objects to the termination of the case by Bawaslu, they can legally file a pretrial lawsuit to the court,” he added. He also said that as the case has been terminated, the allegation was legally groundless.

In relation to the printing of masks that displayed the tagline of Candidate Pair No. 2 Surunuddin Dangga-Rasyid (Relevant Party), the Respondent stressed it didn’t do so. “On the masks with the pilkada’s mascot was printed, while on the right side of the outer part there is the logo of the South Konawe regional government,” Harahap explained.

The Respondent, however, admitted to the relocation of ballot boxes for voters who were incapacitated. The boxes were relocated under the witnessing eyes of the TPS election supervisory committee (Panwas) and the witnesses of the candidate pairs, including the Petitioner’s.

“Indeed, Your Excellencies, in this election there is no specific regulation for voters who are incapacitated, whether they are provided with a separate envelope or box. This is different from the previous election. Due to the vacuum of regulation, (the ballot boxes were relocated) to make sure that the KPPS [polling station working committee] were safe and accompanied by stakeholders,” Harahap explained.

Insufficient Evidence

Candidate Pair No. 2 Surunuddin Dangga-Rasyid (Relevant Party) also denied any vote buying. Attorney Andri Darmawan emphasized that the Relevant Party never offered Rp500 million to Hanura DPD (regional executive board) chair and that Hanura (the People’s Conscience Party) didn’t nominate the Relevant Party. “The allegation of vote buying was reported to Bawaslu and [the case] was terminated due to insufficient evidence,” Andri stressed. He believes the Petitioner made the allegation to influence the Court to disqualify the Relevant Party. However, he said, the allegation was premature.

Meanwhile, the regency Bawaslu through Awaluddin confirmed that they had received a report by Muhammad Samir from the Southeast Sulawesi Province Bawaslu regarding the Petitioner’s allegation. “Gakkumdu has followed up on it through an investigation and discussions. In the second discussion, it was concluded that the [practice] was not an electoral crime because the witnesses weren’t willing to testify, which affected the two valid evidence,” he stressed.

In the petition, Candidate Pair Muh. Endang-Wahyu Ade Pratama Irman alleged vote buying by Candidate Pair No. 2 Surunuddin Dangga-Rasyid (Relevant Party) as incumbents, who distributed Rp100,000 to potential voters through their campaign team. They also allegedly mobilized camat (subdistrict heads) and state civil apparatuses (ASN) in the regency by issuing a regent regulation regarding the details and distribution procedure of village funds, which was distributed one day before voting. The Petitioner also alleged that the incumbents had distributed social assistance to influence voters. In addition, the South Konawe KPU committed a violation by printing masks that displayed the incumbents’ tagline, which it distributed to its members. It had also allegedly ceased voting before all voters finished voting.

Alleged Forgery of Signatures

At the same hearing, Panel I justices also heard the case No. 07/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 for Konawe Islands Regency. Before the Respondent took the floor, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih informed that at the previous hearing the Court received a request for petition withdrawal. However, the signatures on the letter weren’t the same as the Petitioner’s. Therefore, the Court would refer it to the police for the criminal act of signature forgery.

“Therefore, the Court will refer it to the authorities for the indication of signature forgery. In the previous hearing, the principal petitioner said they didn’t request a withdrawal. The Petitioner may have a copy of the letter,” she said.

The Konawe Islands Regency KPU (Respondent) said that the petition by Candidate Pair Muhammad Oheo Sinapoy-Muttaqin Siddiq was obscure and thus should be inadmissible. The Respondent denied three things that the Petitioner alleged. “Regarding the Petitioner’s allegation that the regency’s KPU had ignored the COVID-19 protocols during the regent election campaign, the Respondent strongly denies it, because all election stages were carried out following the health protocols,” Nasruddin said.

He believes the Respondent had informed all candidate pairs that the election process must follow health protocols pursuant to the 2020 KPU Regulation (PKPU) on the implementation of regional head elections during a non-natural disaster. During the campaign period, the Respondent also informed all candidate pairs to limit gathering, and to hold dialogues and public debates following protocols.

Also read: Konawe Islands' Petition Withdrawn, Violations in Kotabaru and South Konawe Elections Questioned

At the previous hearing, the Petitioner alleged that the vote counting results of the four candidate pairs in the election weren’t reflected in the online system. The system is used to print the D model as a minute and the vote counting recapitulation certificate that displays the recapitulation data of all 101 polling stations (TPS) in the regency.

They also alleged that the KPU and the other candidate pairs had violated the COVID-19 protocols by holding a socialization event involving more than 50 people, and that the Konawe Islands KPU and Bawaslu as law enforcement authorities and the Relevant Party didn’t prohibit or disband the crowd.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
Uploader: Fuad Subhan

Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti
Editor: R.A. Indah Apriyanti
Managing Editor: Budi Wijayanto

Translation uploaded on 02/04/2021 16:20 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.

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