The witnesses are being sworn in at the Constitutional Court (MK) hearing on the 2024 Election Dispute (PHPU) for Members of DPR (House of Representatives), Provincial and Regency/City DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) in Central Papua Province on Monday (27/5/2024). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held another hearing for Case no. 51-01-07-36/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024  filed by the Indonesian People's Wave Party (Gelora) on the Election Dispute (PHPU) for members of the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) in Paniai Regency, Central Papua Province, Electoral District (Dapil) Paniai 1. The hearing was presided over by Panel 3 Justices, chaired by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, and accompanied by Constitutional Justices Anwar Usman and Enny Nurbaningsih, on Monday, May 27, 2024. The purpose of the hearing was to hear witnesses' and experts' testimonies, and to examine and validate additional evidence.

Votes for Gelora

During the hearing, the petitioner (Gelora) presented three witnesses. Witness Pilipus Kayame testified on vote allocation agreement.

"There was an agreement among the community, youth leaders, district heads, and community figures to allocate 4,000 votes to Demas Kayame from the Gelora Party. The agreement was reached at the district level without being documented in writing," said Pilipus Kayame.

The vote allocation agreement for the Gelora Party was reached among 13 villages in Wegee Muka District. This agreement was included in the recapitulation, totaling 3,327 votes for the candidate named Demas from the Gelora Party during the plenary session.

The next witness for the petitioner was Yulius Kudiai, a mandated witness at the district level in Paniai Regency. According to Yulius' testimony, the District Election Commission (PPD) announced the recapitulation results during the district plenary session, which matched the agreement at the district level. The Gelora Party acquired 3,327 votes, while the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN) each acquired over 3,000 votes.

Another witness for the petitioner, Yeremias Pigome, Chairperson of the Regional Executive Board (DPD) of the Gelora Party for Paniai Regency, played a role as a plenary witness at the regency level. Yeremias also affirmed the testimony given by the previous witness. Yeremias raised objections during the district-level plenary session. He confirmed that there were disturbances during the plenary session; however, no specific incidents were reported to the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

 "I did not sign the plenary recapitulation results," stated Yeremias.

The General Election Commission’s (KPU) Response

KPU (Respondent) in this hearing is represented by a KPU member for Paniai Regency, Petrus Nawipa. He refuted the claim of Gelora's vote acquisition.

"According to the petitioner's petition, Gelora acquired 4,180 votes, but based on the current hearing, it's only 3,327 votes. According to Recap D Form Results, the Gelora Party received zero votes, and the votes acquired came from a different district, identified as East Paniai District. Therefore, the claim made by the petitioner's witness is incorrect," said Petrus.

The respondent also presented Marius Gobai as a witness, the secretary of polling committee (PPS) in Yogiyobutu Village and a youth figure at the district level in Wege Muka District. Marius testified from the district level to the regency level. According to Marius, what was presented by the petitioner's witness is untrue, and the votes stated by KPU are accurate. Furthermore, according to Marius, the Gelora Party acquired zero votes.

Meanwhile, through Yonas Yanampa, Bawaslu  informed the Court that the petitioner only acquired 5 votes at the provincial level. Regarding the objections raised, the witnesses did not provide supporting data for the petitioner's disagreement.

Also read:

Gelora Party Lost Votes in Paniai

Author: Siti Rosmalina Nurhayati.

Editor: Nur R.

Translator: Naomi Andrea Zebua / 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.

 

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