The Relevant Party’s expert Fritz Edward Siregar providing testimony at a hearing for the 2024 legislative election results dispute (PHPU) for West Java Province, Monday (5/27/2024). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) resumed the 2024 legislative election results dispute (PHPU) hearing of DPR (House of Representatives) members from the electoral districts of West Java I and DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) members from Bekasi City 2. The hearing agenda will be focused on presenting evidence and hearing testimonies from witnesses and experts for Case No. 90-01-05-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, filed by NasDem (National Democratic Party (NasDem). The hearing took place on Monday, May 27, 2024, in the plenary courtroom.

At the hearing, Yulianto, a member of the West Java Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) and expert for NasDem, stated that election organizers like the KPU (General Elections Commission), Bawaslu, and DKPP (Election Organizer Ethics Council), are required to follow the law, maintain integrity, and ensure fairness in accordance with the laws and regulations.

“In this context, it is crucial to respect written laws and regulations, as well as [election organizers’] decrees,” he explained. He asserted that when Bawaslu has issued a decree, the KPU must follow it in accordance with the laws and regulations.

Willihardy Ummaya, a witness for NasDem, noted discrepancy in the DPR vote count between the C-result form and the D-result form at the city level.

“After reviewing and adjusting our data, we found reductions at 60 polling stations and increases at nearly 105 stations for the Party of Functional Groups (Golkar),” he disclosed.

He explained that this issue was reported to West Java Province Bawaslu. “We submitted our report on March 8, and it was acknowledged during the provincial recapitulation. The report was then forwarded to the West Java Bawaslu for further action, which has since been addressed,” he stated.

According to him, a quick administrative review confirmed administrative election violations by the Respondent and the West Java KPU was ordered to examine the data in the C-result and the D-result forms on Sirekap (the KPU’s vote recapitulation information system) for several unverified polling stations during the review.

Cepi Adi Setiadi, chairman of the legal division of the Bandung City KPU, testified for the Respondent and denied the Petitioner’s claims. He stated that the recapitulation at the Bandung City level, held from February 29 to March 4, 2024, was attended by all members of Bandung City Bawaslu and party witnesses, including the Petitioner’s representatives—Willy and Rizki—and Golkar’s representative Cucu. All witnesses, except for the Petitioner’s, signed the subdistrict-level D-result form and its attachments.

During the recapitulation, the Petitioner’s witness objected to the discrepancy between the C-result and the D-result forms at three polling stations in Batununggal Subdistrict. The meeting chair proposed comparing data for potential corrections, but NasDem’s witness declined.

Also read:

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No Objection

The panel of justices also heard testimonies from witnesses and experts presented by Golkar as the Relevant Party. Fritz Edward Siregar, an expert, explained that the Court could not rely solely on the quick administrative decision issued by the West Java Provincial Bawaslu.

“The hierarchical recapitulation process included any special incidents or findings by election supervisors (if any). Thus, the subdistrict-level vote recapitulation acts as a control mechanism for incidents, including but not limited to errors in recording or calculation that occur during voting and counting at polling stations, as regulated in Article 25 of PKPU (General Elections Commission Regulation) No. 5 of 2024,” he explained.

Cucu Sukmana, a Golkar witness in Bandung City, described the counting process in 27 subdistricts, stating that NasDem raised no objections. “The Petitioner’s witness, sitting next to me, did not object and signed the subdistrict D-result form,” he said.

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioner claimed there had been vote discrepancies in the electoral district of West Java I attributed to inflated votes for Golkar and reduced votes for NasDem during the 2024 election recapitulation at the subdistrict level by subdistrict election committee (PPK) in Bandung City. The Petitioner also alleged NasDem had its votes reduced while votes for the United Development Party (PPP) were increased, impacting NasDem’s seat acquisition of Bekasi City DPRD in electoral district 2.

Author              : Utami Argawati
Editor               : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator         : Dzaki Difa Al Hadiid, Yuniar W.

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.

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