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Thursday, March 18, 2021 | 14:46 WIB

Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams reading out the Court’s legal considerations at the ruling hearing of the Kotabaru regent election dispute, Thursday (18/3/2021) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Teguh. 

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) rejected the entire petition of the 2020 Kotabaru regent election (pilkada) results dispute filed by Candidate Pair No. 2 Burhanudin-Bahrudin. The Decision No. 43/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 was read out by Chief Justice Anwar Usman at a ruling hearing on Thursday morning, March 18, 2021 in the plenary courtroom.

“The Respondent and Relevant Party’s objection in relation to the Court’s authority as well as the Petitioner’s petition were obscure. [The Court] rejected the Petitioner’s petition in its entirety,” said Justice Anwar reading out the verdict.

In the legal considerations read out by Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams, the Court responded to the Petitioner’s allegation of bureaucratic politization and authority abuse by the Relevant Party as incumbents. The Court believes that the re-election of incumbents is special in that they have political privilege over other candidates.

“The Kotabaru Regency Bawaslu’s supervision function is crucial in detecting violations as early as possible and taking firm action in accordance with the laws and regulations so that the election can run honestly and fairly. After examining the evidence of the supervision results by Kotabaru Regency Bawaslu, the Court assessed that the process carried out by Bawaslu was appropriate and the problems argued by the Petitioners had been followed up by Bawaslu,” Justice Wahiduddin said.

Moreover, after the Court examined the Petitioner’s evidence (photos, videos, letters, and testimony of witness Muhammad Yani) and the Relevant Party’s evidence, it didn’t find compelling evidence that the incidents alleged by the Petitioner had significantly affected voters to vote for the Relevant Party. “Therefore, the Court believes the Petitioner’s arguments to be legally groundless,” he said.

Also read: Central Kalimantan, East Kotawaringin, Sekadau Election Results Challenged

About the Petitioner’s allegation of vote buying in several places in the regency, Justice Wahiduddin said that the Court had set rigid rules regarding violations outside of vote counting results: those violations should be structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) and affecting the candidate pairs’ vote acquisition. “The Court was not convinced that the distribution of money that the Petitioner alleged would have swayed voters,” he said.

The assessment was supported by the fact that the minute and vote counting recapitulation certification in each subdistrict in the regency showed that the Petitioner earned the most votes in Sebuku and Pulau Laut Utara Subdistricts. “While in fact, the Petitioner alleged that the Relevant Party had distributed money in those areas,” Justice Wahiduddin said.

Also read: KPU Refutes Allegations by Petitioners in Sekadau and Kotabaru Regency Elections

Not Following KPU Regulation

Justice Wahiduddin also said that the Petitioner’s allegation of ballot manipulation by the Respondent through the miscalculation of reserve ballots, which led to the miscalculation of valid and invalid votes as well as the inflation of 437 votes for the Relevant Party, had been refuted by the Respondent. The Respondent said that the Petitioner used the wrong basis for the calculation of reserve ballots with respect to Article 20 paragraph (1) letter a of the KPU (General Elections Commission) Regulation No. 18 of 2020 on Voting and Vote Counting. The Respondent’s statement was echoed by the Relevant Party, who said that the Petitioner had miscalculated—they should’ve based the numbers on the final (DPT) voters at each TPS, rounded up.

“The Court believes that the number of reserve ballots (2.5%) based on the [final] DPT voters per subdistrict, which then led to the inflation of 437 ballots that the Petitioner alleged, was not in accordance with the provision of PKPU No. 18 of 2020, which stipulates that the basis for the counting of reserve ballots is the number of [final voters] per TPS rounded up if it produces fractions,” Justice Wahiduddin said.

The Petitioner also alleged that the Petitioner belatedly submitted the KWK copy result C model form to the Petitioner’s subdistrict witness coordinator before the vote counting in the plenary meeting of Kelumpang Hulu Subdistrict. The form was suspected to have been manipulated as it differed from the official format set by the regency’s KPU, which was available on its website. “The Court didn’t consider the matter further because it was not stated by the Petitioner in their petition, and because there was no difference in the candidate pairs’ vote acquisition and no objection from the Petitioner’s witnesses,” Justice Wahiduddin said.

Also read: C-Result-KWK Forms Verified at Kotabaru Regency Election Dispute Hearing

The Petitioner alleged that Candidate Pair No. 1 Sayed Jafar-Andi Rudi Latif (Relevant Party) had committed structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) manipulation and violations in the regency’s election, such as politicizing the bureaucracy and abusing their authority by signing a joint statement between their campaign team and the Presidium of New Autonomous Region of Tanah Kambatang Lima. In addition, they alleged the Kotabaru KPU had inflated 555 votes in seven sub-districts.

Writer: Fuad Subhan
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
Uploader: Rudi

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

Translation uploaded on 3/18/2021 19:22 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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