Putra, the Petitioners’ legal counsel, delivering a statement at the preliminary hearing for the Tulang Bawang regency election dispute, Thursday (1/9/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Tulang Bawang Regent Candidate Pair 3 Hendriwansyah and Danial Anwar alleged nepotism in the inauguration of officials as well as misappropriation of local government budget in the campaign of Candidate Pair 2 Qudrotul Ikhwan and Hankam Hasan.

Prior to running, Qudrotul was appointed by the Minister of Home Affairs as the acting regent of Tulang Bawang in December 2022 without being nominated by either the regency DPRD (Legislative Council) nor Lampung governor Arinal Djunaidi. He served until resignation in July 2024, after which the Minister appointed Ferli Yuledi and Haryanto as acting regent and regency secretary. Haryanto, who previously served as the head of the Tulang Bawang Office of Public Works, is the younger brother of Hankam Hasan, deputy regent Candidate 2.

The Petitioners believe that the two officials have carried out populist programs by running street repairs or construction programs during the campaign period and mobilized the people to vote for a certain pair. This, according to the Petitioners, has worked in favor of Candidate Pair 2, who have been certified by the KPU (Elections Commission) as the election winner with 94,061 votes. Candidate Pair 3 Hendriwansyah-Danial Anwar and Candidate Pair 1 Winarti-Reynata Irawan acquired 51,334 and 48,476 votes respectively.

The Petitioners argued that in addition to the acting regent and regency secretary, civil state apparatus and non-tenured staff members were also involved in supporting Candidate Pair 2. Riduansyah, head of Regional Technical Managing Unit Region 5 of the Tulang Bawang Office of Public Works, was alleged to have violated the Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) regulations for gifting box culverts in a campaign in Rengas Cendung, Menggala District.

Vote Buying and Elderly Social Assistance

Moreover, the Petitioners argued there had been systematic, structured, and massive (TSM) violations in the form of vote buying, one of which amounted to Rp50 million and given by Candidate Pair 2 to the head of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama of Tulang Bawang. Two people were caught red-handed for handing out Rp50,000 three days before the election after reports by residents of Gedung Meneng, Penawar Tama, and Rawa Jitu districts. Tulang Bawang Bawaslu declared these acts election crime violations.

The Petitioners revealed that 1,421 elderly citizens had received Rp500,000 and 124 people with disability had received Rp1 million as a form of social assistance five days before the election day. They argued that the action disregarded the prohibition of social assistance during the election period and signaled the acting regent’s impartiality.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested the annulment of the Tulang Bawang KPU Decree No. 865 of 2024 in conjunction with Decree No. 866 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 Tulang Bawang regent election results. They also requested the Court to disqualify Qudrotul Ikhwan and Hankam Hasan from the election and to order the Tulang Bawang KPU to conduct a revote at all of the polling stations without their participation.

The preliminary hearing for Case No. 48/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on Thursday, January 9, 2025 in panel 2 courtroom.

Author            : Mimi Kartika Author
Editor            : N. Rosi
Translators     : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin/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.

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