The Petitioners’ legal counsel Guruh Lazuardi Rambe (standing) at the preliminary hearing for the Buru regent election results dispute on panel 3, Monday (1/13/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA, MKRI - Buru Regent and Vice Regent Candidate Pair Number 1 Muhammad Daniel Rigan and Harjo Udanto Abukasim have filed a petition disputing the Buru regent election results. The preliminary hearing for Case Number 227/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 took place on Monday, January 13, 2025 in a panel courtroom. The Petitioners highlighted alleged violations in seven districts and objected to the results of the vote acquisition determined by the Buru Regency KPU (Elections Commission).

In the petition, the Petitioners argue that there were irregularities in the certification of 78,122 valid votes by the Buru Regency KPU (Respondent) out of a total of 95,522 votes. They alleged there had been fraudulent practices that violated law and ethics involving not only the Respondent but also other candidate pairs.

The Petitioners’ legal counsel Harkuna Litiloly revealed various violations, one of them being alleged kinship between the Buru Regency KPU chairman and one of the candidate pairs, which could potentially compromise election organizers’ independence.

The Petitioners also made allegations of double voting, the illegitimate increase in the number of final voters in the DPT lists without electronic ID cards (KTP), and massive money politics practices.

“Then, the KPU chairman had voted twice at different polling stations (TPS), specifically at TPS 19 and 21. We have reported this issue to Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) and we are currently submitting a report on the issue to the DKPP (Election Organizer Ethics Council),” stated Litiloly before Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat and members of panel 3.

Final Voters List Allegedly Manipulated

In their petition, the Petitioners also revealed allegations of manipulation in the voter verification process. They claimed the Buru Regency KPU chairman had not conducted voter verification systematically and optimal, specifically those who had passed away, moved away, or were minors (ineligible).

As a result, the number of voters determined by the Buru Regency KPU increased unnaturally by 5,989. The Petitioners argued that this had been used to favor Candidate Pair Number 2 Ikram Umasugi-Sudarmo.

Litiloly also mentioned the alleged involvement of election committees at the district and village levels. In Fena Leisela District and Waimite Village, the district election committee (PPK) and the polling committee (PPS) were allegedly not transparent in showing the voter attendance lists. Some voters were included in the special voters list but their names were not recorded in the list.

Litiloly also revealed irregularities in the vote recapitulation process, especially regarding recounts. In Jamilu Village of Namlea District, four ballot papers were found missing; in Namlea District, one ballot paper was also declared missing. “We have attached the evidence related to the missing ballot papers,” he said.

The Petitioners requested the Court to grant all of the petitums and to annul the Buru Regency KPU Decree Number 136 of 2024 concerning the Certification of the 2024 Buru regent election recapitulation results, which was certified on December 6, 2024 at 18:10 WIT.

Author            : Utami Argawati
Editor            : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                 : Tiara Agustina
Translators     : Dinita Aktivia/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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