Prospective relevant parties queuing for the 2024 regional election results dispute, Monday (1/6/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) — There are many reasons behind the request to apply for the position of relevant parties in the 2024 regional election results disputes. Until Monday, January 6, 2025, prospective relevant parties, often represented by their legal counsels, came to the Constitutional Court (MK) for consultation or to submit a request.

Calls for them echoed in the case registration room amid the long queue. They came from many regions throughout Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke. Each of them were armed with arguments to maintain victory with the certification from the Regional Elections Commissions (KPUD) throughout the country.

Some of them cited the Court’s decisions’ legally binding nature as a reason for applying. Some cited a high vote margin between them and the petitioners.

Court Decisions’ Binding Nature

Bima mayoral candidate pair 01 A. Rahman H Abidin and Feri Sofiyan (Man-Feri) from West Nusa Tenggara sent legal counsel Sutrisno Azis to register today as a relevant party.

Sutrisno revealed that his clients registered as a relevant party after the other candidate pair lodged a petition to the Court. They wish for balance in providing evidence during proceedings, because the Court’s decision will bind all parties.

“We feel that in order for the evidentiary process to be balanced, we should be a relevant party. Anyhow, the Court’s final decision will be binding to all parties, including [my clients] as a relevant party,” Sutrisno said during interview.

Legal counsel Aida Mardatillah revealed that Mesuji regent candidate pair 02 Elfianah and Yugi Wicaksono (El-Gi) cited similar reasons for registering as a relevant party.

On behalf of her clients, Aida said that her clients registered as a relevant party after the other candidate pair lodged a petition. “There was a report regarding the petition on the regional election results dispute petition by candidate pair, if I am not mistaken. Candidate pair Suprapto and Fuad,” she said.

She also cited the wish for balance in the evidentiary process, which concerns matters such as administrative requirements such as the change to the name on the candidate pairs ID card.

“The matter has been resolved, actually. The new name was even used by the Mesuji regent candidate when running as a legislative candidate in 2019,” Aida said.

High Vote Margin

High vote margin is also a reason that these prospective relevant parties often cited. Legal counsel for Puncak Jaya regent candidate pair 02 Miren Kogoya and Mendi Wonerengga (Miko-Mendi) from Central Papua, Yayan Efendi Septiadi, cited this reason.

Interviewed after registering, he claimed that there were high vote margins between his clients and the other candidate pairs. “As a Relevant Party, we believe the petition will be rejected because of the high vote margin and facts on the field. The KPU has certified [my clients] as the winner,” he said.

Dogiyai regent candidate pair 02 Yudas Tebai and Yuliten Anouw from Central Papua also highlighted vote margins. They registered as a relevant party through legal counsels Hanna Marua Manurung and Jessica Novia Hermanto.

Manurung said that the registration served to balance out the petitioners’ petition. She believes some of the reasons behind the petition are not substantial. She also highlighted the high vote margin between her clients and the petitioners.

“The matters driving them to file the petition are not substantial. In terms of votes, the relevant party’s votes are far apart, with a margin of 30 thousand votes,” she asserted.

The Court has registered 309 cases. Out of them, 23 petitions challenge the governor election, 49 were on the mayor election, while 237 were on the regent election. This number has been filtered out of 314 petitions filed to the Court. Some of them were filed online through SIMPEL while the others were lodged on site.

The first preliminary hearings for these cases will take place on Wednesday, January 8. The responses and testimonies of the relevant parties must be submitted the day before the next hearing.

Author            : Ashri Fadilla
Editor             : N. Rosi
Translators     : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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.

---