Periati Ginting, the Petitioners' legal counsel at the preliminary hearing for Case Number 296/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 regarding the Paniai regent election results dispute, Monday (1/13/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Regent Candidate Pair 4 Thomas Yeimo and Yeri Adii alleged the Chair and Members of Paniai Regency KPU (Elections Commission) of conducting bribery amounting to Rp200 million. The allegation was delivered in the preliminary hearing of Case Number 296/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on Monday, January 13, 2025.

“There were instances of bribery among the election organizers of Paniai Regency and they have been followed up by the law enforcement apparatus,” legal counsel Periati Ginting stated in the panel 2 presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani.

She explained that the bribery was found in a sting operation in which the KPU Chair Sam Nawipa and a KPU Member Cecilia Nawipa handed in Rp200 million in cash to the KPU Secretary Elly E. Y. The sum, Rp150 million was intended to be handed to police officers to support the campaign of Candidate Pair 1 Yan Piet Nawipa-Ham Yogi. The cash evidence was then under the custody of the law enforcement, the Paniai Police Precinct.

The Paniai KPU certified the vote acquisition with Candidate Pair 1 Yan Piet Nawipa-Ham Yogi (Relevant Parties) obtaining 54,763 votes, Candidate Pair 2 Robby Kayame-Hengki Kudiai 10,761 votes, Candidate Pair 3 Nason Uti-Jhon Deki Yogi 24,894 votes, Candidate Pair 4 Thomas Yeimo-Yeri Adii (Petitioners) 23,490 votes, and Candidate Pair 5 Ottopianus Gobai-Deki Nawipa 1,516 votes. However, the Petitioners argued that they should have acquired 48,320 had their missing votes not been added to those of the Relevant Parties.

The Petitioners believe that vote inflation occurred in several districts, namely Aweida, Siriwo, Paniai Timur, Bibida, Youtadi, Aradide, Ekadide, Pugodadi, Muye, Topiyai, Bogobaida, Kebo, and Wegebino Districts. The votes acquired by Candidate Pair 1 was inflated by subtracting 24,830 votes from Candidate Pair 4 in several polling stations across the districts.

The Petitioners accused the Paniai KPU of not implementing the recommendation from the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) to revoke the recapitulation at the regency level. Therefore, in their petitums, the Petitioners requested that the Court annul the Paniai KPU Decree No. 48 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 regent election results dated December 14, 2024. They also requested the court to rule the vote acquisition as deemed correct by the Petitioners: Candidate Pair 1 obtaining 19,335 votes, Candidate Pair 2 15,942 votes, Candidate Pair 3 24,200 votes, Candidate Pair 4 48,320 votes, and Candidate Pair 5 7,627 votes. Alternatively, they wished that the Court order the Paniai KPU to conduct a revote in all of the polling stations, villages, or districts.

Author : Mimi Kartika

Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.

PR : Fauzan Febriyan

Translator : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin / FS (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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