Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman read out the decision of the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election Dispute, on Tuesday (29/06) in the courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo: PR/Ifa.
JAKARTA, PUBLIC RELATIONS – The Constitutional Court (MK) partially granted the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election Result Dispute (PHP Pilbup Yalimo) proposed by Candidate Pair No. 2 Lakius Peyon and Nahum Mabel. In the Decision No. 145/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021, the Court also disqualified Candidate Pair No. 1 Erdi Dabi because he no longer met the requirements as a candidate pair for the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election as read by the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman in the ruling hearing which was held on Tuesday (29/6/2021).
"Ordered the Respondent (Yalimo General Election Commission) to carry out re-voting in the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election followed by Candidate Pair No. 2 (Lakius Peyon, SST.Par. and Nahum Mabel, SH) as long as they still met the candidacy requirements, and opened up opportunities for new pairs of candidates, including provided opportunities for John W. Willil as long as they met the requirements,” said Anwar.
In addition, the Court also ordered the re-voting to be carried out within a grace period of 120 (one hundred and twenty) working days after the decision was pronounced. KPU must also determine and announce the results of the re-voting and report the results to the Court within 7 (seven) working days after the determination of the recapitulation results of the re-voting.
"Ordered the General Election Commission to supervise and coordinate with Papua Province General Election Commission and Yalimo General Election Commission in the context of implementing this decision, and to report the results of its supervision to the Constitutional Court within 7 (seven) working days after the determination of the recapitulation results of the re-voting, "explained Anwar.
Not A Convict
Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Suhartoyo read out the Court's legal considerations regarding the requirements to become a candidate for regional head who was not allowed to commit a crime. In accordance with the provisions of Article 7 Paragraph 2 Letter G of Law 10/2016, one of the requirements to become a candidate pair for election participants is never to be a convict based on a court decision that has obtained permanent legal force for committing a criminal act punishable by imprisonment 5 (five) years or more. So, continued Suhartoyo, the criminal threat in the phrase "threatened with a sentence" refered to the formulation of criminal threats written in the legislation. Thus, the Court believed it was a fatal mistake when the term "criminal threat" was simply equated and/or interchanged with the term "imprisonment imposed by a judge".
Suhartoyo explained that in the case of a crime committed by Erdi Dabi (Relevant Party), the Court has observed the Jayapura District Court Decision No. 500/Pid.Sus/2020/PN.Jap dated February 18th, 2021. It stated that Erdi Dabi legally and convincingly had committed a criminal act which intentionally violated the provisions of Article 311 Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, and Paragraph 5 of Law No. 22/2009 concerning Highway Traffic and Transportation (UU LLAJ).
"Because the status of the threat of imprisonment against Erdi Dabi was correlated with the provisions of Article 7 Paragraph 2 Letter G of Law 10/2016 and even though Erdi Dabi at the time of his candidacy had complied with the provisions of Article 7 Paragraph 2 Letter G of Law 10/2016, the requirements still applied. Because Erdi Dabi at the time of committing a crime until he received a judge's decision that had permanent legal force, he was still a candidate for regional head who had not finished following all the stages up to the inauguration stage," Suhartoyo explained in a trial which was attended by the parties virtually from their respective residences.
5 Years Waiting Period
Furthermore, Suhartoyo said, as a candidate pair who is following the stages of the voting and re-voting process as determined by the Constitutional Court, Erdi Dabi must also be able to fulfill the requirements for candidacy as a participant in the 2020 Yalimo Regent and Deputy Regent Election. criminal case that is being served, he must also fulfill the "waiting period" of 5 (five) years from the end of the criminal period served and announce the criminal status openly to the public. Although the criminal decision only has permanent legal force after the stipulation of Erdi Dabi as a candidate for Regent from Candidate Pair Number 1, even after the first voting on December 9, 2020 is completed.
"The Court did not agree with the argument that the fulfillment of the registration requirements was an 'einmalig' legal event, which was considered to occur immediately and only once, so that once a condition was fulfilled, the person concerned will forever have the status of "eligible". Because the Court believed, candidates for regional heads, both during their time as candidates and after being appointed as regional heads, remain attached to the status of legal subjects who will always be examples, or role models, both in their inner attitude and integrity as well as their actions for members of the community. So that the administrative requirements for the nomination of a regional head will apply continuously as long as the person concerned still holds the status of a regional head candidate," explained Suhartoyo.
Regional Head Candidate Status
Furthermore, related to the legal fact that the criminal decision against Erdi Dabi only had permanent legal force after the completion of the first voting on December 9th, 2020 and before the re-voting on May 5th, 2021, the Court opined that the first and subsequent voting were both forms of voting stages whereas the results were not yet known and the winner had not yet been determined. So that all the contestants for the regional head election still have the status as regional head candidates. As a result, Suhartoyo said, the candidate's status could be cancelled if there were conditions that caused the unfulfillment of the requirements as a regional head candidate.
“The Court considered that the provisions of Article 90 Paragraph 1 Letter B of PKPU 1/2020 need to be reinterpreted, especially as the phrase 'before polling day' should not discriminate whether the voting is an initial vote or a vote because of the status of the contestants in the regional heads elections are still candidates who are bound by the requirements as candidates for regional heads,” said Suhartoyo.
Overall Re-Election
Furthermore, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat said that the Court opinied that Erdi Dabi as a Candidate Pair No. 1 no longer met the requirements as a candidate for Regent. He has been proven to have committed a crime with a threat of imprisonment for more than 5 (five) years and has not fulfilled the provisions for a 5 (five) year pause after completing his criminal period, and the person concerned has committed a disgraceful act.
Therefore, continued Arief, Erdi Dabi no longer qualified as a candidate pair and was disqualified. Thus, the 2020 Yalimo Regent Elections must be re-voted. However, considering that the candidate pairs in the re-voting of Yalimo Regent Election only left 1 (one) pair of candidate, the Court emphasized several steps that the election organizers had to take in preparing this re-election agenda, including the Respondent (KPU Yalimo Regency) can open the re-registration of candidate pairs so that there is the possibility of new candidate pairs in re-voting.
Furthermore, the Respondent requested to include the Petitioner as one of the candidate pairs participating in the re-voting without re-selection, as long as there are no new things found that could cause the requirements not to be fulfilled. Then, due to a personal mistake made by Erdi Dabi as an unfulfillment Regent Candidate No. 1, it cannot be charged to the candidate for Deputy Regent from Candidate Pair No. 1 on behalf of John W. Wilil so that he can still volunteer or be proposed as a candidate pair, either as a candidate for Regent or candidate for Deputy Regent without re-selection, as long as there are no new things found that could cause the requirements not to be fulfilled.
"Considering that based on these legal considerations, the Court canceled all votes in the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election, both those stipulated in the Yalimo KPU Decree No. 55/PL.02.6-Kpt/9122/KPUKab/XII/2020 concerning the Determination of the Vote Count Recapitulation, dated December 18th, 2020, as well as those stipulated in the Yalimo KPU Decree No. 117/PL.01.8-Kpt/9122/KPU-Kab/V/2021 concerning Determination of Vote Count Recapitulation after the Constitutional Court Decision No. 97/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 in the 2020 Yalimo Regent Election, dated May 11th, 2021, " said Arief.
In the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners revealed that there had been an administrative violation by the Candidate Pair No. 01 Erbi Dabi who was driving a vehicle in a drunken state so that he crashed and killed a policewoman, a member of Papua Regional Police Propam on September 17, 2020. For this behavior, the Jayapura District Court Judge sentenced for four months. However, in the end, the person concerned was transferred to a city prisoner as stated in Decision No. 500/Pid.Sus/2020/PN.Jap. for the violations that occurred, the Petitioner requested protection from the competent authorities, but Yalimo Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) did not take any action on the Petitioner's request.(*)
Writer: Sri Pujianti
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari P
PR: M. Halim
Translator: SO
Editor: Indah Apriyanti
Managing Editor: BW
Translation uploaded on 07/07/2021 at 12.56 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.
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 | 20:58 WIB 423