The Respondent’s legal counsel Julianer Aditia Warman (left) at the examination hearing for Case No. 145/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 concerning the Palu City mayoral election results dispute, Tuesday (1/21/2025) in the panel 3 courtroom. Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Palu City KPU (Elections Commission) responded to the petition for Case No. 145/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025, emphasizing that the incumbent’s issuance of an appointment letter and the inauguration of officials within six months before being certified as a candidate on September 22, 2024, had followed applicable legal provisions. They explained that the inauguration had obtained written approval from the Minister of Home Affairs, as stipulated in Article 71 of the Regional Election Law.

“The evidence is in documents T-6, T-7, T-8, and T-9. There were around 165 approvals, and were issued on April 26, 2024,” said Julianer Aditia Warman, the KPU’s legal counsel on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in the panel 3 courtroom.

At the examination hearing presided over by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, the Palu City KPU revealed that they had received public feedback regarding the inauguration on September 18, 2024. However, the KPU stated they were unaware of the inauguration before receiving clarification. They explained that there were no specific regulations addressing the inauguration of officials, allowing the candidate pairs to be certified under established procedures.

“After the certification on September 21, 2024, there was a report submitted to Bawaslu regarding the inauguration, but the report was not followed up because it was not ground for a violation, in other words, no problems were found,” added Julianer.

In response to allegations of obstructing constitutional rights, the Palu City KPU highlighted its efforts to spread information to ensure all residents of Palu City could cast their votes in the 2024 regional election. Updating voter data through voter data verification was carried out in stages until the stage of certifying the final voter list (DPT).

“[Such efforts] are a way of safeguarding the constitutional rights of Palu City residents. [From] 274,293 final voters, [there were] 171,446 voters, while 102,847 did not vote,” explained Julianer.

The Palu City KPU further noted that voter turnout in the 2024 Palu City election reached 66%, aligning with the turnout rates observed in previous regional elections since 2010. Additionally, they stressed that no recommendations for a revote were issued by Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) during the election process, ensuring that the elections were conducted following applicable regulations.

Therefore, the Palu City KPU asserted that all stages of the 2024 Palu City mayoral election had been conducted under regulations, ensuring transparency, accountability, and the protection of residents’ constitutional rights.

Candidate Pair 02 Hadianto Rasyid–Imelda Liliana Muhidin (Relevant Party), through their legal counsel Andi Syukri Syachrir, stated that the second inauguration had obtained the necessary approval. However, the first inauguration held on March 22, 2024, was subsequently canceled by the Relevant Party on March 29, 2024, following a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs denying permission for the inauguration.

Meanwhile, a member of the Palu City Bawaslu, Ferdiansyah, revealed that during a plenary meeting, Bawaslu concluded that the submitted report did not constitute a violation. He explained that the issue raised pertained to the nomination process, it should have been associated with candidate eligibility and nomination requirements.

He stated that three findings were recorded, but those were unrelated to the substance of the petition. Regarding reports of alleged violations of constitutional rights, investigations had been conducted in seven districts, but no indications of violations were discovered.

Previously, Candidate Pair 01 Hidayat–Andi Nur B. Lamakarate, filed a petition concerning the 2024 Palu mayoral election results dispute to the Court. They argued that Candidate Pair 02 Hadianto Rasyid–Imelda Liliana Muhidin should not have received votes in the 2024 Palu mayoral election due to alleged administrative violations that should have disqualified them from the outset.

Author         : Utami Argawati
Editor          : Tiara Agustina
Translator    : Syifa Amelia/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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