The Petitioners’ legal counsel Arif Efendi at the examination hearing for Case No. 187/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent in the Cirebon Regency election results dispute, Friday (1/17/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Cirebon Regency KPU (Elections Commission) stated that Candidate Pair 04 Mohammad Luthfi–Dia Ramayana (Luthfi-Ana) had the wrong subject or error in persona in the petition concerning the 2024 Cirebon Regency election results dispute. This was conveyed in response to Luthfi-Ana’s petition in Case No. 187/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025.

The response was presented by the Cirebon KPU at the examination hearing to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), as well as the validation of evidence on Friday, January 17, 2025. The hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair), Constitutional Justice Foekh, and M. Guntur Hamzah on panel 1.

The Cirebon Regency KPU (Respondent), represented by legal counsel Ali Nurdin and Arif Effendi explained that the Petitioners’ petition had a wrong subject as it involved the Central KPU.

“It has a wrong subject because the subject is the Central KPU, not the Cirebon Regency KPU,” said Ali Nurdin.

In addition to the error in persona, the Respondent argued that the petition in this case has involved an object error, or error in objecto, because the Petitioners identified the minutes of the vote recapitulation as the object of the dispute, rather than the KPU’s decree.

Meanwhile, the Respondent highlighted the subject matter of the petition as argued by the Petitioners, which is structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations. They believe TSM violations are under Bawaslu’s jurisdiction, not the Court’s.

“This allegation is groundless as TSM does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Court. Furthermore, there is no recommendation from Bawaslu regarding the allegations of TSM violations. Hence, this claim is inappropriate,” said Arif Effendi.

Similarly, Candidate Pair 02 Imron-Agus Kurniawan as the Relevant Party testified at the hearing that this case has both error in persona and error in objecto.

The Relevant Party testified that TSM violations fall under the jurisdiction of Bawaslu, not the Court. “The Petitioners lacks the legal standing to submit this petition to the Court, as the allegations of structured, systematic, and massive violations are within the authority of the Provincial Bawaslu, as stipulated in Article 135A Paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Regional Election Law,” explained the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Fery Ramadhan.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo asserted that any party should not change its interpretation of Article 158 of Regional Election Law.

“As the petitioners, one might change perspective and consider TSM violations within the Court’s authority. The Court has, on several occasions, allowed [arguments on] TSM violations to override Article 158,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Cirebon Regency Bawaslu, as the testifier in this case, stated that they had issued two recommendations. These recommendations pertained to the installation of campaign props and the code of ethics for KPPS (polling station working committee) at TPS 05 in Karangsembung Village. They further confirmed that all recommendations had been followed up by the Cirebon Regency KPU.

“We issued two recommendations, Your Honor. [Both recommendations] had been followed up by [Cirebon Regency] KPU,” said Amir Fawwaz, a member of Cirebon Regency Bawaslu.

Also read: Cirebon Regency Election Dispute: Alleged Forged Signature

Candidate Pair 04 Mohammad Luthfi–Dia Ramayana presented their petition at the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. They alleged several administrative violations by the KPU, along with claims of TSM violations. In their petitums, they requested the Court to declare the Cirebon Regency KPU Decree 325/PL.01.8-BA/3209/2/2024 dated December 5, 2024 regarding the certification of vote results for the 2024 Cirebon Regency election null and void.

The petition for Case No. 187/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 can be accessed here.

The Respondent’s response can be accessed here.

Bawaslu testimony can be accessed here.

The Relevant Party’s testimony can be accessed here.

Author              : Ashri Fadilla
Editor                : N. Rosi
Translator         : Syifa Amelia/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 Indonesians version will prevail.

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