Eric Ghestano Kandow as the Attorney for Relevant Parties, delivering a statement at the hearing of Legislative Election Results Disputes on Tuesday (14/05) in Panel 1 Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by MKRI/Ifa
JAKARTA, MKRI – The General Election Commission (KPU) has denied that there was fraud at polling station (TPS) 06, Bengkong Indah Village, Bengkong Subdistrict in the Batam City the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Election for electoral district 2 as argued by the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). KPU as the Respondent denied that it did not match the attendance list during the recapitulation and/or by cutting the vote.
“In fact, the entire election process both at TPS 06 and at others TPS in the Batam City area was carried out in accordance with the procedures and applicable laws and regulations,” said Imamul Muttaqin as the Respondent's legal counsel in the 2024 General Election Results Dispute (PHPU) in the Plenary Session Room of Building 1 of the Court, Central Jakarta on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
The KPU stated that if there were objections related to process disputes or election violations, the Petitioner could report them to the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu). According to the KPU, at the time of recapitulation in Bengkong Subdistrict, every vote dispute at each TPS and special events had been resolved jointly by the Sub-District Election Committee (PPK), witnesses, and elections supervisory committee (Panwaslu). This agreement was outlined in minutes of the event and signed by the Gerindra Party witness.
KPU said that if there are objections related to process disputes and election violations, the Petitioner can submit a report to Bawaslu.
The KPU stated that the Petitioner filed an objection regarding the vote acquisition of candidates for DPRD of Batam City 2 from the Gerindra Party, namely Deni Firzan and Setia Putra Tarigan, based only on the Respondent's version. The Petitioner is considered unable to show the correct vote acquisition according to its version. The KPU recorded the correct votes as Deni Firzan with 3,296 votes and Setia Putra Tarigan with 3,433 votes.
The KPU also stated that the Petitioner's arguments were increasingly difficult to understand and very unclear. This included the Petitioner's claim that the Respondent had eliminated 32 votes at TPS 06 Bengkong Indah. Additionally, the Petitioner argued that there had been an inflation of 407 votes in C Copy at TPS 06 but did not specify whose votes were omitted or inflated.
Read also: Suspecting Vote Buying, Gerindra Fights for DPRD Second Seat in Batam City 2
Bawaslu reported that Untung Sudarto had alleged election violations involving the distribution of money to the public by Eva during the quiet period. However, the report was dismissed because it did not meet the elements required by Article 523 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 278 paragraph (2) of Law No. 7/2017 on Elections. Bawaslu of Batam City has also never handled findings or received requests for election process disputes related to the distribution of money or changes in vote acquisition in Batam City.
Case No. 176-02-02-10/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024 was heard in Panel 1, heard by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah. In addition to the KPU and Bawaslu, there were Relevant Parties who also submitted their responses to this case, namely Setia Putra Tarigan, a candidate for Batam City DPRD from the Gerindra Party No. 5 in constituency 2.
In its petitum, Gerindra Party requested the Court to cancel KPU Decree No. 360 of 2024 concerning the election results for members of the DPR, DPD, Provincial DPRD, and Regency / City DPRD announced on March 20, 2024 at 22:19 WIB, especially for Batam City Constituency 2. The Petitioner also asked the Court to order the KPU to conduct a re-vote at TPS 06 Bengkong Indah Village, Bengkong District.
Author : Mimi Kartika.
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator : Siti Nurhaliza/Fuad Subhan
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 10:32 WIB 51