The Respondent's legal counsel Tegar Yusuf Ardhi Nugraha (middle) at the examination hearing for Case No. 174/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Buru regent election results dispute, Tuesday (1/21/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held an examination hearing on the 2024 Buru regent election results dispute on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, to hear testimonies from the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu regarding the arguments presented by the Petitioners in Case No. 174/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025. At the hearing presided over by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat as panel chair, the Respondent asserted that throughout all stages of the election, no reports or objections were filed by the Petitioners on alleged violations at the polling stations, as mentioned in the petition.

Tegar Yusuf Ardhi Nugraha, legal counsel for the Respondent, addressed the vote-counting method presented by Buru Regent-Vice Regent Candidates 04, Amus Besan and Hamsah Buton (Petitioners). "In the table submitted by the Petitioners, all valid votes from nine polling stations across four districts were excluded. These polling stations include TPS 1, TPS 2, and TPS 3 in Sawa Village, Lilialy District; TPS 2 in Debowae Village, Waelata District; TPS 1, TPS 2, and TPS 3 in Nafrua Village, Lolong Guba District; and TPS 19 and TPS 21 in Namlea Village, Namlea District," he stated. The Respondent argued that the Petitioners’ method of vote counting, which excluded the results from these polling stations, lacked a clear legal foundation and failed to respect the voting rights of citizens who had lawfully cast their ballots.

Furthermore, the Respondent argued that the Petitioners failed to clearly identify the voters who allegedly used fake ID cards or demonstrate how such allegations impacted the vote count results. The Respondent emphasized that the polling station working committee (KPPS) officers at the polling stations in question had fulfilled their duties appropriately, including maintaining complete documentation. Moreover, no evidence was found to support the violations alleged by the Petitioners.

The Respondent addressed the Petitioners’ argument concerning alleged unsealed and improperly opened ballot boxes without the knowledge of witnesses from the candidate pair, asserting that these accusations were legally groundless and unproven in court. Consequently, the Respondent requested the Court to reject all arguments presented by the Petitioners and affirm the validity of the election results as certified by the Buru KPU.

Meanwhile, Taufik Fanolong, representing the Buru Bawaslu, clarified that the report submitted regarding alleged election administration violations in the election was found not to constitute an administrative violation. Consequently, the report could not be registered for further processing.

This decision reflects the lack of sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim of administrative violations filed by the reporter. Bawaslu assured that all stages of the election process were conducted in compliance with the applicable regulations.

"Based on the results of the Buru Regency Bawaslu's supervision report (LHP), it was explained that during the plenary meeting for the vote count recapitulation results and certification of election results for 10 districts, witnesses from Candidate Pairs 01 and 04 walked out and rejected the recapitulation results of Buru Regency," said Taufik.

Furthermore, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Dudi Usman Sahupala emphasized that the arguments submitted by the Petitioners had no legal basis. "The Petitioners iare wrong in making an analogy by equating valid votes as part of the violation. The correct comparison should be between valid votes and invalid votes," Dudi emphasized.

In addition, the Relevant Party also highlighted the Petitioners’ error, which was considered to have eliminated 3,422 valid votes in their calculations. Previously, Candidate Pair 01 Muhammad Daniel Rigan and Harjo Udanto Abukasim alleged fraud that occurred in seven districts and raised objections to the vote acquisition results determined by the Buru KPU.

Author  : Utami Argawati
Editor   : Tiara Agustina
Translator     : Nazila Rikhusshuba/FS

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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