Empat Lawang Election Dispute Focuses on Term Length Issue

The Relevant Party’s legal counsel, Saifudin testifying at the examination hearing for case No. 24/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Empat Lawang regent election result dispute. The hearing included testimonies from the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The calculation of the office term length was questioned in case No. 24/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Empat Lawang regent election results dispute. This case, filed by the regent-vice regent candidate pair Budi Antoni Al Jufri and Henny Verawati, proceeded to the examination hearing of the testimonies from the Respondent, Relevant Party, and the validation of evidence on Monday, January 20, 2025.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo presided over the hearing accompanied by Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah in panel 1 courtroom. The Empat Lawang Regency Election Commission (KPU) as the Respondent provided responses to the Petitioners’ arguments.

The arguments centered on the Petitioners’ ineligibility for the Empat Lawang regent election due to exceeding the permissible term limits. To assess the candidates’ eligibility, the Respondent deployed two verification teams. One team traveled to Jakarta to verify with the Central KPU, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the DKI Jakarta High Court. Meanwhile, the other team traveled to Palembang to verify with the Government and Regional Autonomy Bureau of South Sumatra.

“Based on the coordination results and document verification, the Petitioners were not eligible as they had passed half of their office term,” stated Safiudin, the Respondent’s legal counsel.

In this case, the Respondent calculated that the Petitioner had served as regent for 2 years, 8 months, and 7 days. “[The calculation] refers to the Termination Decree,” stated Safiudin.

The elected regent-vice regent candidate pair, Joncik Muhammad and Arifai (the Relevant Party) also responded on the length of office term in the hearing. Their legal counsel stated that the provision of Article 58 letter (o) of Law No.32 of 2004 on Regional Government limits regional heads to a maximum of two terms.

“Now, he requests for three terms, Your Honors,” stated Heru Widodo, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel.

As such, in the petitums, both the Respondent and the Relevant Party request the Court to declare the validity of Empat Lawang KPU decree No. 1325 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 Empat Lawang regent-vice regent election result.

Meanwhile, the Empat Lawang Regency Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) ensured the election process was conducted without any findings of violations. Also, the Empat Lawang Bawaslu did not issue any recommendations during the regent election.

“[There was] no recommendation” stated the Empat Lawang Bawaslu member, Ahmad Fatria Arsasi.

Despite this, there was a violation report and two election disputes that were addressed. “During the process of the regional head election in Empat Lawang [regency], we managed one violation and two disputes,” Ahmad continued.

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Questions Raised on Empat Lawang Regent's Term of Office and Observer Accreditation

Length of Office Term Questioned in Empat Lawang Regency Election Dispute

Empat Lawang Election Result Dispute Centers on Office Term Length Issue

In the preliminary hearing on January 9, 2025, the Petitioners argued that the office term should be calculated from inauguration until his appointment as the acting regent. According to the Petitioners, the term length is 2 years, 1 month, and 27 days. Therefore, the Petitioners requested the Court to declare their candidacy in Empat Lawang regent-vice regent election, and annul the decree of Empat Lawang KPU on the certification of the 2024 Empat Lawang regent-vice regent vote acquisition result.

Notably, the 2024 Empat Lawang regent election results dispute was not only filed by the candidate pair Budi Antoni Al Jufri and Henny Verawati, but also by the Center for Legal Advocacy and Human Rights (PAHAM), the regent election observer in Empat Lawang Regency under case No. 03/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025.

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Empat Lawang Election Dispute Focuses on Term Length Issue