Bambang Widjojanto as the Petitioners’ legal counsel testifying at the governor election results dispute hearing for Case Number 304/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2, Wednesday (1/15/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Papua Governor and Deputy Candidate Number 2 Matius Fakhiri and Aryoko Alberto Ferdinand Rumaropen (Petitioners) argued that the Papua Provincial KPU (Elections Commission) as the Respondent had verified Candidate Number 1 Yermias Bisai despite not meeting the nomination requirements.  This was stated by the Petitioners’ legal counsel Bambang Widjojanto before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

“The certificate of not being deprived of the right to vote for the candidate Yermias Bisai is invalid and cannot be used because it does not come from a civil servant whose jurisdiction covers the candidate’s residence, which must be confirmed by ID card (KTP) and resident ID number (NIK) at the time of registration,” stated Bambang at the preliminary hearing for dispute over the 2024 Papua governor election results for Case Number 304/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

Bambang accused the Papua Provincial KPU of having passed Yermias Bisai, who did not meet the nomination requirements of a certificate of non-conviction and not being deprived of his right to vote from the District Court (PN), which must come from his residence confirmed by ID card and resident ID number (NIK) as stipulated in Article 7 paragraph (2) letter g and letter n of the on Regional Election Law. The Petitioner alleged that Yermias Bisai had committed forgery because he used a certificate belonging to Samuel Fritsko Jenggu that was issued by the Jayapura District Court.

The chairperson of Jayapura District Court has been asked for clarification by the Respondent and has stated that the Jayapura District Court never issued a certificate for Yermias Bisai. Based on the regional election candidacy information system (Silon), Yermias continued to use invalid or falsified certificates to register for candidacy.

According to the Petitioners, the Respondent knew that the certificate submitted by Yermias was fake, but still declared Candidate Number 1 eligible. In addition, the Petitioner alleged the Respondent had hidden facts of the Jayapura District Court chairperson’s letter to the Central KPU.

Official Transfer Violations

On the other hand, as incumbent regent of Waropen who is running as a candidate for Vice governor of Papua, Yermias had transferred employees without written approval from the Minister of Home Affairs in August 2024 allegedly for the benefit of the Papua governor election.

The Petitioners claimed to have reported the action but it was not followed up and was not made a finding. The Central Bawaslu chairman wrote to the Minister of Home Affairs that the deadline for staff reshuffle was March 22, 2024. Thus, Yermias’ actions violated the provisions of Article 71 paragraph (5) of the Regional Election Law.

Identity Politics

The Petitioners also argued that there was identity politics where places of worship were used for the benefit of Candidate Pair Number 1. This is because in Papua there is a close relationship between churches, customs, and the majority Christian community. The Petitioners claimed to have evidence related to the mobilization of church congregations to vote for Candidate Pair Number 1 by calling for only choosing people with the character of Christ.

The Petitioners stated that the letter from the Synod Working Board of the Evangelical Christian Church of the Land of Papua (GKITP) to the working board, the daily congregation assembly executive, and the congregation had harmed his votes in all districts/cities. The Petitioners only obtained 39 percent of the votes in Mamberamo Raya Regency and 37 percent in Sarmi Regency.

The Papua Provincial KPU certified 269,970 votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 Benhur Tomy Mano-Yermias Bisai were and 262,777 votes for Candidate Pair Number 2 Matius D Fakhiri-Aryoko F. Rumaropen. The Petitioners request the Court to cancel the certification of the votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 as stated in the Papua KPU Decree Number 250 of 2024; to disqualify Candidate Pair Number 1; and to certify the correct vote acquisition as follows: Candidate Pair Number 1 with zero votes and Candidate Pair Number 2 with 262,777 votes; and to declare Candidate Pair Number 2 as the elected candidates.

Author              : Mimi Kartika
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                     : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator          : Dinita Aktivia/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL) (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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