South Nias KPU and Bawaslu Deny Allegation of Invalid Diploma

The Nias Regency KPU’s (Respondent) legal counsels Gatot Rusbal (first right) and Sifaumadodo Wau (second left) at the examination hearing for the South Nias regent election on panel 3 for Case No. 219/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, Monday (1/20/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held an examination hearing on the 2024 South Nias regent election results dispute for Case Number 219/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent’s response and testimonies by the Relevant Party and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) on Monday, January 20, 2025. At the hearing chaired by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, on behalf of the South Nias Elections Commission (KPU) as Respondent, legal counsel Gatot Rusbal stated that the Petitioners’ allegation regarding invalid diploma of one of the candidate pairs was untrue.

The Respondent said that they had conducted a thorough verification and review of the candidates’ documents before certifying the candidate pairs. If the required documents are declared complete and in accordance with applicable regulations, the candidate pair will be certified as a participant in the 2024 South Nias Regent Election. Therefore, the Petitioners’ argument is not proven and has no legal basis.

“The Respondent did not find anything related to the violation as claimed by the Petitioner,” he explained.

Candidate Pair Number 3 Fajarius Laia and Sifaoita Buulolo (Petitioners) accused Candidate Pair Number 1 Sokhiatulo Laia-Yusuf Naghe of violating the limit of individual campaign donations. The Respondent refuted this allegation, citing a report it has published. In accordance with the KPU Regulation Number 14 of 2024 on campaign funds for participants in the election, the Respondent has disclosed information to all candidates so that any receipt, use, and report of campaign funds comply with applicable laws and regulations.

The Court also heard a testimony by the Relevant Party, who denied all the arguments made by the Petitioners. “[The GED diploma issued by Bina Edukasi PKBM] has been verified by the KPU and Bawaslu. [The allegation] is not true,” asserted Wiradarma Harefa, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel.

Then, related to the alleged receipt of campaign funds, he explained that he had attached evidence that the campaign funds came from several people.

The South Nias Regency Bawaslu, represented by Yosua Buulolo, said that Bawaslu had received a report of alleged violations in the 2024 South Nias regent election recorded on September 25, 2024, which was then registered with No.018/Reg/LP/PB/Kab/02.19/IX/2024 on September 27, 2024. After the examination, on October 2, 2024, Bawaslu made a notification of the status of the report, stating that the reported parties, consisting of five people, were not proven to have violated the code of ethics for organizing elections.

Another report was also recorded on December 3, 2024. Then it was followed up on December 10, 2024, when the South Nias Regency Bawaslu issued a notification of the report status stating that the alleged use of a fake diploma was not proven as a violation in the election.

Also read: Allegation of Invalid Diploma Arises in South Nias Regency Election

At the preliminary hearing on January 8, 2025, the Petitioners’ legal counsel Rahmat objected to the election process which was considered invalid. The Petitioners argued that the KPU as Respondent had committed structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violation by certifying Candidate Pair 01 as the elected candidate while the candidate pair did not qualify for the 2024 South Nias Regency election. They also alleged there had been misuse of campaign funds.

Therefore, the Petitioners requested the Court to disqualify the Relevant Party from the 2024 South Nias Regency election. They also requested the Court to state that if the Relevant Party is disqualified, the vote acquisition is as follows: Firman Giawa-Robert MZ. Dakhi earning 4,771 votes, Idealisman Dachi-Foluaha Bidaya earning 31,208 votes, and Fajarius Laia-Sifaoita Buulolo earning 31,494 votes.

Author             : Utami Argawati
Editor                : Tiara Agustina
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.

Monday, January 20, 2025 | 14:36 WIB 190

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South Nias KPU and Bawaslu Deny Allegation of Invalid Diploma