Legal counsels Charles B. Litaay and Vendy Toumahuw at the preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 67/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Aru Islands regent election results dispute, Tuesday (1/14/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – Aru Islands regent-vice regent candidates 01 Temy Oersopiny and Hady Djumaidy Saleh raised concerns regarding the formal requirements for candidacy in their petition for the 2024 Aru Islands regent election results dispute. Temy and Hady as the Petitioners for Case No. 67/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 filed the petition against the Aru Islands KPU (Elections Commission) as the Respondent, while Candidate Pair Number 02 Timotius Kaidel and Mohamad Djumpa are the Relevant Party in the case.

The preliminary examination hearing took place on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 in the Constitutional Court (MK) and was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah.

Certification of Aru Islands Regent Candidate Pair

The Petitioners’ argument in this case focused on formal requirements concerning the Relevant Party’s eligibility as a candidate pair. This concern arose from findings by the Audit Board (BPK) regarding excess payments in road construction projects undertaken by the Aru Islands Regency Government.

“The BPK RI (Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia) recommended that the Aru Islands regent instruct the head of the PUPR (Public Works and Spatial Planning Office) to withdraw the excess payment for the Tunguwatu-Nafar road construction project, amounting to Rp4,255,390,305.50,” stated legal counsel Charles B. Litaay.

Despite the recommendation issued by the BPK, the Petitioners argued that the Aru Islands KPU still declared the Relevant Party eligible as a candidate pair. They claimed this decision violated Article 45 paragraph (2) letter b point 5 of Law Number 10 of 2016, in conjunction with Article 14 paragraph (2) letter (j) of the KPU Regulation Number 8 of 2024, as amended by the KPU Regulation Number 10 of 2024 on the governor-vice governor, regent-vice regent, and mayor-vice mayor candidacy.

As a result, the Petitioners argued that the Relevant Party’s determination as a candidate pair failed to meet the formal requirements. “When one of the candidates, regent candidate Timotius Kaidel, did not meet the eligibility criteria, it automatically rendered the candidacy of the regent-vice regent candidate pair 02 Timotius Kaidel and Mohamad Djumpa formally flawed and in violation of the law,” stated itaay.

Based on the arguments presented, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the Aru Islands KPU Decree No. 663 of 2024 on the certification of the Aru Islands regent election results. They further requested the disqualification of the Relevant Party in the election.

Regarding the overpayment issue raised in the petition, the panel sought to verify whether the overpayment had caused harm to the state rather than to individuals. The Petitioners confirmed that it had indeed resulted in state losses, substantiating this claim with evidence.

“Is this state loss found by the BPK, or?” asked Chief Justice Suhartoyo.

“Yes, Your Honor. This is based on BPK’s findings,” Charles replied.

Based on the petition, the Court requested the Respondent, the Aru Islands Regency KPU, to provide their response at the next hearing.

Also read the petition for Case No. 67/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025.

Author            : Ashri Fadilla
Editor            : N. Rosi
Translators     : Nazila Rikhusshuba/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.

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