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Wednesday, February 17, 2021 | 19:51 WIB

Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto reading out the verdict at the hearing of the Kuantan Singingi Regency election results dispute, Wednesday (17/2/2021) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Court (MK) rendered the 2020 Kuantan Singingi regent election results dispute petition by Candidate Pair No. No. 3 Halim-Komperensi inadmissible. “[The Court] declares the Petitioner’s petition inadmissible,” said plenary chair Chief Justice Anwar Usman reading out the Decision No. 60/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 at a virtual ruling hearing on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 16:00 WIB in the plenary courtroom.

In the petition, Candidate Pair No. 3 Halim-Komperensi requested the annulment of the KPU Decree No. 912/PL/02.6-Kpt/1409/KPU-Kab/XII/2020 on the Certification of the 2020 Kuantan Singingi Regency Election Vote Counting Recapitulation dated Friday, December 18, 2020.

The Court had examined the case in the preliminary hearing and in the second hearing it had reviewed the fulfillment of the vote margin and deadline requirement of the petition. The Court had also listened to the Petitioner’s arguments as well as the responses by the regency’s General Elections Commission (KPU), Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), and the Relevant Party. The case was then brought to a closed justice deliberation meeting (RPH).

In the legal considerations read out by Constitutional Justice Aswanto, the Court stated that the vote margin between the Petitioner and the winning candidate pair was 1.5% out of the 159,651 total valid votes, or 2,395 votes. According to the Respondent’s recapitulation, the Petitioner earned 52,383 votes while the winning candidate pair (Relevant Party) earned 70.283. The vote margin between them was 17,900 votes or 32.81%, well exceeding the threshold set by statutory laws.

Therefore, because the petition didn’t meet Article 158 paragraph (2) letter b of Law No. 10 of 2016, the Petitioner didn’t have the legal standing to file the regional election results dispute petition to the Court. Thus, the Respondent’s and the Relevant Party’s objections were legally grounded.

Also read:

Court Examines Dispute Cases of Rokan Hulu, Rokan Hilir, Kuantan Singingi Elections 

Kuantan Singingi KPU: No Objection from Witnesses at TPS and PPK

The Petitioner not only questioned the vote margin, but also structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations and manipulation that violated the direct, public, free, confidential, honest, and fair election principles in the regency’s election. They alleged these violations and manipulation had significantly affected their vote acquisition.

Writer: Siti Rosmalina Nurhayati
Editor: Nur R.
Uploader: Nur Budiman

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

Translation uploaded on 02/18/2021 16:53 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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