Anjar Nawan Yusky Eko Prastyo (right) as the Respondent’s legal counsel at the examination hearing for Case No. 202/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Tulungagung regent election results, Friday (1/17/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.
JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Tulungagung Elections Commission (KPU), as the Respondent, delivered its response to the petition filed by Candidate Pair 03 Maryoto Birowo-Didik Girnoto Yekti on the regent election results dispute for Case No. 202/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025. The response addressed allegations of the involvement of 180 village heads in supporting Candidate Pair 01 Gatut Sunu Wibowo-Ahmad Baharudin.
The examination hearing for the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), as well as the validation of evidence, was presided over by Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat, Enny Nurbaningsih, and Anwar Usman on panel 3 on Friday, January 17, 2025. At the hearing, the Tulungagung KPU stated that it neither had any knowledge of nor received reports on the alleged involvement of 180 village heads.
“The Petitioners failed to specify which (of the 180 village heads) were involved, where the alleged incident occurred, whose interests it served, or whether it impacted the vote acquisition of the candidate pairs,” said Anjar Nawan Yusky Eko Prastyo, the Respondent’s legal counsel, in the plenary courtroom.
Anjar explained that the Petitioners had failed to substantiate any violations allegedly committed by the Tulungagung KPU during the election. He emphasized that the state has designated institutions with specific authorities to address such issues, including Bawaslu, the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu), and the Election Organizer Ethics Council (DKPP).
The Tulungagung KPU also addressed allegations regarding the presence of the head of Tanggul Turus Village at the public campaign event for Candidate Pair 01 at the Lembupeteng Sports Center. Anjar asserted that the Respondent was unaware of this incident.
“The Respondent did not receive any recommendations and/or written reports from Bawaslu. The Petitioners raised issues related to election administration, which fall under Bawaslu’s authority, not that of the Constitutional Court. Therefore, the Petitioners’ argument should be rejected,” stated Anjar.
Relevant Party Denies Petitioners’ Assumption
Meanwhile, Candidate Pair Number 01 Gatut Sunu Wibowo-Ahmad Baharudin argued that the Petitioners’ claim regarding the alleged involvement of 180 village heads was unclear (obscuur libel). They contended that the argument was merely an assumption supported only by the existing video and audio evidence.
The Petitioners failed to substantiate the alleged involvement. Maryoto Birowo-Didik Girnoto Yekti could not provide the names of the village heads or specify the form of fraud that occurred. Furthermore, during the discovery process, the Relevant Party found no video evidence supporting the Petitioners’ claim of the village heads’ involvement.
“The Petitioners did not specify, Your Honors, which village heads were involved, from which villages they were, what form of fraud took place, or whether the alleged fraud had a significant impact on the Petitioners’ vote acquisition,” stated Muhammad Iqbal Sumarlan Putra as the Relevant Party’s legal counsel.
“Because basically, in the Petitioners’ petitums and posita, they did not provide any detailed explanation and instead directly requested the Court to disqualify the Relevant Party and immediately nullify their votes,” he added.
In contrast, the Petitioners were suspected of receiving support from the Tulungagung Village Apparatus Association (PPDI). This is based on an online media article titled “PPDI Tulungagung Supports Regent Maryoto’s Candidacy in the 2024 Regent Election,” yet the Petitioners instead claimed that Gatut Sunu Wibowo-Ahmad Baharudin had involved village officials in winning the election.
The Relevant Party refuted the Petitioners’ claim on the involvement of the Tanggulturus Village head at the public campaign for Candidate Pair 01 at the Lembupeteng Sports Center. They clarified that the village head’s presence was neither by invitation nor initiated by the Relevant Party.
The Relevant Party argued that it was impossible for the public campaign committee of Candidate Pair 01 to restrict the public from attending the event. They further asserted that the alleged presence of the village head at the campaign could not be classified as a structured, systematic, and massive violation.
“During every campaign activity, we cannot limit or suppress public enthusiasm, Your Honors, and it was certainly not on our instructions that the individual in question participated in our campaign,” stated Iqbal.
No Reports to Bawaslu
Pungki Dwi Puspito, chairman of Tulungagung Bawaslu, stated that Bawaslu had fulfilled their preventive responsibilities by issuing Appeal Letter No. 127/HM.02.00/K.JI-29/09/2024, urging all village heads and officials to remain neutral in the Tulungagung regent election. Regarding the Petitioners’ claims, Pungki confirmed that Tulungagung Bawaslu had not received any reports concerning the alleged involvement of 180 village heads in campaigning for Candidate Pair 01.
“Regarding the Petitioners’ arguments, Bawaslu did not receive any reports or findings of the alleged election violations,” stated Pungki.
The Tulungagung Bawaslu has also undertaken preventive measures by conducting dissemination to promote the neutrality of village heads, state civil apparatus (ASN), national police (Polri), national armed forces (TNI), and regional officials at regency and district levels. Additionally, through the district election supervisory committee (Panwaslu), Bawaslu reviewed video clips of 9 seconds, 48 seconds, and 1 minute and 9 seconds in length, which allegedly depicted violations of village head neutrality, as claimed by the Petitioners.
The investigation was conducted during the stages of the Tulungagung regent election. Based on the examination of the videos, the Tulungagung Bawaslu found no evidence of violations or fraud that could be deemed to benefit Candidate Pair 01.
They also investigated the alleged presence of the head of Tanggulturus Village at the public campaign of Gatut Sunu Wibowo-Ahmad Baharudin. The investigation identified potential violations, leading Bawaslu to issue recommendations indicating a suspected breach of the village head’s neutrality.
“Tulungagung Regency Bawaslu is monitoring the follow-up actions taken by the interim regent of Tulungagung, which include issuing a written warning to the individual in question,” stated Pungki.
Also read: Maryoto-Didik Allege Involvement of Village Heads in Tulungagung Regency
Maryoto Wibowo-Didik Girnoto Yekti (Petitioners) argued that the vote difference in the Tulungagung regent election was due to the alleged involvement of over 180 village heads. This claim also included suspicions of the Tulungagung PPDI supporting Gatut Sunu Wibowo-Ahmad Baharudin.
The involvement of village heads was indicated by a nine-second video taken on September 26, 2024, which appeared to show the alleged support of the Tulungagung Regency PPDI for the pair. This action allegedly violated Article 62 paragraphs (1) and (2) of the KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 13 of 2024, which prohibits village heads and village officials from participating in election campaign activities. Additionally, it prohibits village heads and village officials from benefiting or harming any candidate pair.
Author : Nawir Arsyad Akbari
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Tiara Agustina
Translator : Nazila Rikhusshuba/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.
Friday, January 17, 2025 | 10:14 WIB 154