Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra with Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani at the preliminary hearing of the regent election Case No. 183/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on panel 2, Wednesday (1/8/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) – Pamekasan regent-vice regent candidate pair 03 Muhammad Baqir Aminatullah and Taufadi (Baqir-Taufadi) argued a procedural flaw in the 2024 Pamekasan regent-vice regent election. The legal counsel Gugum Ridho Putra leveled the allegation at the preliminary hearing for Case No. 183/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 on panel 2.

Gugum stated that the vote difference between the Petitioners and candidate pair 02 was because of flawed procedure and structured, systematic and massive (TSM) violations. The Petitioners suspected the involvement of polling station working committee (KPPS) as many polling stations (TPS) recorded nearly 100 percent voter turnout.

“Some deceased voters were still registered in the final voters list (DPT), which was the case in 8 districts, 34 villages, 114 polling stations in Pamekasan Regency, yet the KPPS ignored this,” Gugum said in a hearing presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, with Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani as panel members.

To note, three candidate pairs competing in the Pamekasan regent-vice regent election include Candidate Pair 01 Fattah Jasin and RP Ahmad Mujahid Ansori (Fattah-Mujahid), Candidate Pair 02 Kholilurrahman-Sukriyanto (Kholil-Sukri), and Candidate Pair 03 Baqir-Taufadi.

Forms of Violations

Next, legal counsel Abd Kholis argued three forms of TSM violations, which include vote-buying by Kholil-Sukri, the impartiality of village heads, and intimidation and expulsion of the Petitioners’ witnesses.

Another violation was in the form of distribution of cash and stickers of Kholil-Sukri, which had been reported and investigated by the Pamekasan Regency Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body).

“[We] alleged vote-buying by Candidate Pair 02 and their campaign team, through the distribution of cash and stickers of the candidate pair in question,” said Kholis.

Meanwhile, the Petitioners suspected TSM violation where village heads showed support for Kholil-Sukri.

“Several village heads violated impartiality by openly endorsing Candidate Pair 02, which they started even before the announcement of the three candidate pairs in the Pamekasan regent-vice regent election,” Kholis added.

As such, in the petitum, the Petitioners requested the Court to order the Pamekasan Regency KPU (Elections Commission) to do a revote in seven districts including Pegantenan, Proppo, Palengaan, Batumarmar, Tlanakan, Pasean, and Pademawu.

Author              : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi/L.A.P.
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.  
Translators        : Ryan Alfian/Yuniar Widiastuti (RA)

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.

---