Experts and witnesses were sworn in before the panel during the continued hearing of the General Election Results Dispute for Members of the DPR RI, Provincial DPRD, and Regency/City DPRD in Banten Province on Thursday (15/8/2024) in the Constitutional Court. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA, MKRI - The Constitutional Court (MK) held an evidentiary hearing on Thursday (15/8/2024) regarding the General Election Results Dispute (PHPU) for Members of the DPR RI, Provincial DPRD, and Regency/City DPRD in Banten Province in 2024. The case, registered under Number 286-01-14-16/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, was filed by the Democratic Party.
During the hearing, led by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, the Democratic Party presented Agus Riwanto, a Constitutional Law Lecturer from Sebelas Maret State University. Agus emphasized that achieving electoral justice requires addressing all violations occurring in the election process through the application of legal certainty principles.
“The resolution of election disputes serves two main purposes: correcting fraud through verification mechanisms and imposing sanctions on those who commit administrative or criminal fraud,” Agus explained.
According to Agus, when there is a violation during the counting and recapitulation process, it is considered an administrative violation. If such violations occur during the recapitulation and vote counting stages, any individual present, including the public, supervisors, and political party witnesses, can raise objections to ensure that the procedures align with the Election Law.
"The authority to enforce administrative actions during the election process lies with Bawaslu at all levels. Violations can be identified either through supervision findings or reports from parties as stipulated in Article 454 of the Election Law. When an election violation occurs during the recapitulation process, whether as a finding or a report, the procedure involves a thorough examination of the scene. Since this is an administrative violation, its resolution must be handled at the appropriate level." said Agus.
Witness Statement
Ferry Fairuz, a witness for the Democratic Party, testified that during the KPU comparing process in Serang Regency on July 3-4, 2024, the procedure was conducted according to the mandate of the Constitutional Court's decision.
"Only the votes of related parties, in this case, PDIP, were compared, and the process lasted only 3 hours, Your Honor. After the process in the Regency was completed, I heard from colleagues that there were issues with the party's mandate at the KPU in Serang City. Upon hearing that information, including the alleged omission of a C Plano from 20 polling stations, I volunteered to propose to the leadership that I be given a mandate at the City KPU," said Ferry.
According to Ferry, when he was acting as a representative at the KPU of Serang City, there was a debate regarding the accountability for the C1 Plano form, which had been deliberately omitted. "But they ignored it, only arguing that it was incomplete," he said.
Ferry further explained that when he sought accountability for the C1 Plano form, there was no progress. Additionally, he mentioned that there was an agreement to conduct a unilateral vote recount, but the ballot box containing the C1 Plano form was damaged.
During the hearing, the Related Party, Mufrod, explained that after the pairing process at the KPU of Serang City, despite a lengthy debate, it was eventually agreed to recount the votes, which was formalized by creating four panels. "The process is ongoing because when the ballot box was retrieved, it was initially agreed upon to conduct a recount in 20 polling stations," said Mufrod.
In the hearing, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), as the Related Party, presented an expert, Daniel Zuchron. Daniel explained that the records of events submitted by the parties in order to implement the Constitutional Court's decision adhered to the procedures regulated by the KPU regulations. He mentioned that the level of recapitulation, from the scope of the city or district area, is essentially a repetition of activities. The procedure involves converting votes into minutes and certificates of results, which then contribute to the recapitulation of results. This process serves as the basis for the determination of election results and is crucial for the implementation of the Constitutional Court's decision.
"This is why KPU regulations are relevant. Understanding the Constitutional Court's decision requires that the comparison of the C Results and D Results documents follows the procedural steps, similar to the post-poll recapitulation and counting of election votes," Daniel explained.
Read also:
Democrat Party Disputes Vote Matching Results for DPRD Members of Banten II
Court Orders Vote Comparison at 120 Polling Stations in Banten II for DPR Election
According to Andi, the Respondent from the outset intended to implement the Court's decision in a way that was inconsistent with the ruling, notably by not including election participants in the opening of ballot boxes in Serang City. The Petitioner argued that the C-Results for PDIP votes in 20 polling stations in Serang City were missing and refused to verify them using electronic data and the C-Results-DPR.Copy. Additionally, the Petitioner claimed that 189 votes for the Democratic Party were rendered invalid at these 20 polling stations where the original DPR C-Results were missing. Furthermore, the Petitioner contended that the Respondent improperly compared and/or determined the votes of all political parties from the recount results at these 20 polling stations, when the recount should have only concerned PDIP votes, as stipulated by the Constitutional Court's decision.
The 20 polling stations in question are polling station 1, polling station 4, and polling station 17 in Panggung Jati Village; polling station 2, polling station 6, polling station 14, and polling station 18 in Lialang Village; polling station 4, polling station 10, and polling station 11 in Umbul Tengah Village; polling station 1 and polling station 2 in Cilowong Village; polling station 5 and polling station 7 in Kalang Anyar; and polling station 4, polling station 5, polling station 14, polling station 19, polling station 22, and polling station 28 in Dragong Village. Andi further explained that the C-Plano Results for these 20 polling stations are missing, with no explanation provided as to how these boxes were lost. Even during the final plenary process at the KPU, the situation at these 20 polling stations could not be clarified.
Author : Utami Argawati
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator : 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.
Thursday, August 15, 2024 | 14:37 WIB 50