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Thursday, March 18, 2021 | 14:00 WIB

Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih reading out the Court’s legal considerations at the ruling hearing of Belu 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 2020 Belu regent election (pilkada) results dispute petition filed by Candidate Pair No. 1 Willybrodus Lay-J. T Ose Luan. The Decision No. 18/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 was read out by Chief Justice Anwar Usman alongside the other eight constitutional justices 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.

Also read: Suspicion of Violations in Belu and Indragiri Hulu Regency Elections

In the legal considerations read out by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih, the Court responded to the Petitioner’s allegation of vote reduction at several TPS (polling stations) because the KPPS (polling station working committee) declared the ballots invalid, when the Petitioner’s image was clearly marked by voters. Therefore, the Court stated that the Belu Regency KPU’s (General Elections Commission) action was justified as it was based on a clear legal basis and complied with existing technical procedure.

“The Respondent didn’t discriminate in invalidating the votes for both the Petitioner and the Relevant Party. Objections to the matter were settled in the plenary subdistrict meeting (of South Atambua Subdistrict) and the Petitioner’s witnesses had accepted the settlement, as evidenced by the absence of objection regarding the confirmation of valid/invalid votes in the Special Incident-D Model or KWK Subdistrict Objection form,” Justice Enny said.

Also read: No Objections, Belu Regency KPU Deems Petition Not under Court's Authority

Groundless

The Court stated that it didn’t find the issue regarding three problematic voters at TPS 3 of Renrua Village that the Petitioner had alleged. It only found similar names who were absent from voting. The Court also stated that the different spellings of Willybrodus Fahik’s name (who didn’t receive the C-6 form and were not allowed to vote despite being listed in the final voters list/DPT) referred to the same person. In addition, the issue regarding Yanuarius Lisu, who the Respondent said didn’t receive the C-6 form because he was not available during form distribution, was deemed to have been settled.

The Court also said that the Petitioner’s argument regarding out-of-precinct voters and voters using invalid KTP (resident ID card) was groundless.

“The ‘Cek KTP’ application on Android smartphones on Google Play Store was legally groundless because the app was not government-approved as its data didn’t come from the Home Ministry’s population data,” Justice Enny added.

“Money Politics” Unproven

Moreover, the Petitioner’s allegation of vote buying or “money politics” and voter mobilization was refuted by the Relevant Party who claimed they weren’t involved in the distribution of sembako (staple food items) to the community by Fahiluka Foundation. This was supported by an investigation by the regency’s Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) over the report, which wasn’t followed up because it didn’t meet the criteria of vote buying. In addition, Justice Enny said, the Petitioner’s witnesses testified in the evidentiary hearing that they didn’t report the mobilization of university students and shop attendants to Bawaslu and that the Petitioner didn’t know where the alleged mobilized voters would cast their votes.

“Based on these legal considerations, the Court didn’t find sufficient evidence and belief that there had been structured, systematic, and massive practices of ‘money politics’ and voter mobilization by the Relevant Party that would’ve affected the Petitioner’s votes. Therefore, the arguments of the a quo Petitioner were legally groundless,” Justice Enny stated.

“Considering that the Petitioner’s arguments for the remainder and other matters related to the a quo petition were not considered further because the Court believes them to be irrelevant and, therefore, must also be declared legally groundless,” she stressed.

Also read: Belu Regency Election Dispute Hearing Presents Witnesses

Willybrodus Lay-J. T Ose Luan appealed to the Court to annul the Belu Regency KPU’s decree No. 224/PL.02.6-Kpt/5304/KPU-Kab/XII/2020 on the Certification of the 2020 Belu Regency Election Vote Counting Recapitulation dated December 16, 2020. The Petitioner alleged that there had been violations at TPS of Maneikun Village in Lasiolat Subdistrict, TPS of Fatubenao Village in Kota Atambua Subdistrict, and other TPS. These violations were claimed to have reduced the Petitioner’s votes. They also alleged vote inflation for the Candidate Pair No. 2 at TPS in Ren Rua Village of Raimanuk Sub-district and several other TPS. Furthermore, the Petitioner said there were out-of-precinct voters and some voters used invalid KTP. They also found indications of vote buying or “money politics” and voter mobilization.

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 18:46 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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