The Respondent’s legal counsel Imam Munandar (left) testifying on case No. 53/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Bulukumba regent election result dispute, Tuesday (1/21/2025) in panel 3 courtroom. Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Bulukumba Regency Elections Commission (KPU) as the Respondent in case No. 53/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 denied all arguments by the Petitioners, candidate pair 1 Jamaluddin M. Syamsir-Tomy Satria Yulianto. The Bulukumba KPU delivered the response at the examination hearing on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, set for hearing the Respondent’s response, testimonies by the Relevant Party and Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), and validating evidence from the parties.

“[Addressing violations] is not under the [Bulukumba Regency] KPU’s authority, but the [Bulukumba Regency] Bawaslu’s, which we outlined on pages 15-26,” explained Iwan Munandar, the Respondent’s legal counsel at the hearing presided over by Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Anwar Usman, and Enny Nurbaningsih in panel 3 courtroom.

The Respondent stated that the petition did not compare the votes between the Petitioners and the Respondent. Instead, the petition only alleges structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations by candidate pair 2 through vote-buying, mobilization of state civil apparatus, and reports submitted to Bulukumba Bawaslu.

In addition, the Bulukumba Regency KPU adhered to all decisions and recommendations issued by the Bulukumba Bawaslu. The authority to investigate and follow up on allegations of administrative and election criminal electoral violations falls under Bawaslu and the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu). The authority is outlined in Article 139 paragraph (1), Article 146 paragraph (1) and (4), Article 148 paragraphs (1) and (4), and Article 154 paragraph (1) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law.

As such, the alleged administrative violation by the Respondent falls under the authority of Bawaslu. If Bawaslu does not grant the report, the Petitioners may file an election administrative dispute lawsuit to the State Administrative Court.

As such, the Respondent requested the Court to grant their objection in its entirety and dismiss the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety.

Relevant Party: Petitioners’ Allegation Based on Assumption

Candidate pair 2 Muchtar Ali Yusuf and A. Edy Manaf (Relevant Party) rejected all of the Petitioners’ arguments. “All arguments [in the petition] are a narrative reflecting the Petitioners’ emotions,” said Muhamad Aljebra, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel. For instance, the Petitioners’ allegation of the Relevant Party abusing their authority by transferring officials had no evidence.

The Relevant Party also refuted the allegation that activities such as the Bakti Husada Jamboree, Bulukumba Regency Jamboree TP-TPK, and family assistance team (TPK) were related to their campaign. Muhamad stated that the Bakti Husada Jamboree was an activity organized by the health office. “The TP-TPK Jamboree is a routine program from the central government, while the family assistance team activities have been included under the regional medium-term development plan (RPJMD) of 2020-2024 by the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs.

The Relevant Party countered the Petitioners’ allegation of state civil apparatus’ partiality, characterizing them as unfounded and biased assumptions. They emphasized that the Petitioners had failed to provide specific evidence of these alleged violations, including details on where, when, how, and by whom these violations were committed, their impact, and any connection to the votes for the Petitioners.

Bawaslu: All Reports Have Been Addressed

Meanwhile, Bulukumba Bawaslu chair Bakri Abubakar stated that they have received the allegation of administration violations conducted by the incumbent. The Bulukumba Bawaslu had issued a notification of the report’s status, stating that the a quo report did not satisfy the criteria for administrative or criminal election violations.

The Bulukumba Regency Bawaslu also issued a status report on the allegation of election violation on October 29, 2024. The finding constituted an election violation and was reported to Bulukumba Police for allegedly violating Article 24 paragraph 1 letters b, c, and d of Law No. 20 of 2023 on State Civil Apparatus and was also reported to the Civil Service Agency (BKN). Subsequently, the Bulukumba Police terminated the investigation based on the warrant of termination of investigation dated November 18, 2024.

Bulukumba Regent candidate pair 1 Jamaluddin M. Syamsir and Tomy Satria Yulianto (Petitioners) alleged the incumbent candidate pair 2 Andi Muchtar Ali Yusuf and Andi Edy Manaf (Andi Utta-Edy Manaf) of authority abuse in the 2024 regent election.

The Petitioners argued that the incumbent had carried out criminal election violations by leveraging the regional officials in their campaign. The alleged violations include the misappropriation of local government budget and facilities in the incumbent’s campaign activities. He added that structural officials in several government institutions of Bulukumba had been suspected of actively manipulating government resources such as office vehicles, officers, and other facilities in strengthening their position in the election.

Author               : Utami Argawati
Editor                : Fitri Yuliana
PR                     : Tiara Agustina
Translator         : Ryan Alfian/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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