Bawaslu’s representative Doni Aria Saputra testifying at the examination hearing for Case No. 120/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the regent election results dispute before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2, Tuesday (1/21/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Kerinci KPU (Elections Commission) as the Respondent denied the arguments of Kerinci regent-vice regent candidates 01 Darmadi and Darifus (Petitioners), who claimed that the vote acquisition of Candidate Pair 03 Monadi and Murison (Relevant Party) had been influenced by structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations. The Respondent stated that no reports regarding TSM violations were submitted to them, nor had there been any decrees by Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) regarding such violations.

This response was delivered by the Respondent’s legal counsel R. Surya Nuswantoro at the examination hearing for Case No. 125/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Kerinci regent election results dispute on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The hearing, intended to hear testimonies from the Respondent, Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, as well as to validate evidence, was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

Surya explained that the Petitioners had failed to provide an explanation regarding the location of the alleged TSM violations. As a result, the Petitioners’ argument did not fulfill the requirements outlined in Constitutional Court Regulation No. 3 of 2024.

“The Petitioners were unable to clearly and comprehensively describe the structured, systematic and massive (TSM) violations, including the area, number of voters, intensity, and series of actions in the process of organizing the 2024 Kerinci regent election,” said Surya.

Based on the above arguments, the Respondent requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and affirm the validity of the Respondent’s decree on the certification of the 2024 Kerinci regent election results.

Also read: Principals and Teachers Allegedly Mobilized in Kerinci Regent Election

In line with the Respondent, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Heru Widodo also denied the Petitioners’ argument that the Relevant Party’s votes were obtained through TSM violations, specifically alleging abuse of authority by the acting regent of Kerinci in favor of the Relevant Party. Heru emphasized that the inauguration of Asraf as acting regent in 2023 had no connection to the victory of the Relevant Party, as the appointment of the acting regent was the authority of the governor and had taken place in 2023, which was separate from the election process.

“The allegation on Asraf’s inauguration has sparked controversy due to his position as the head of civil service police unit (Satpol PP) in 2013, which was proven to have violated ASN neutrality during the 2013 regional election. However, this violation was unrelated to the current election, and it cannot be shown how this past incident is connected to any violations that occurred 11 years later,” stated Heru.

Therefore, in their petitum, the Relevant Party requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and affirm the validity of the Respondent’s decree on the certification of the 2024 Kerinci regent election vote count recapitulation.

Meanwhile, the Kerinci Bawaslu, represented by Doni Aria Saputra, testified regarding the alleged TSM violations in the election. In essence, according to Bawaslu, there were no reports or findings of election violations, nor any election dispute complaints related to the arguments presented.

Also read: Petition for Case No. 125/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025

Author              : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi
Editor                : N. Rosi
Translator         : Nazila Rikhusshuba

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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