Bengkulu KPU chairperson Erina Okriani (Respondent) with legal counsel Khairil Amin at the examination hearing for the 2024 South Bengkulu regent election case No. 25/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, Tuesday (1/21/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — As the Respondent, the South Bengkulu Elections Commission (KPU) delivered its response at an examination hearing to hear the Respondent’s response and testimonies by the Relevant Party and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The hearing for the case was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah on panel 1.

On behalf of the Respondent, Khairil Amin stated that the calculation of the office term of regent candidate Gusnan Mulyadi (Relevant Party) had referred to the provisions of Article 19 letter e of the relevant KPU Regulation. Thus, the South Bengkulu KPU calculated Gusnan’s term from the date of his inauguration as regent from May 3, 2019 to February 24, 2021 and found that it had not reached 2.5 years or two terms of office.

In response to the petition for Case No. 68/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 filed by Candidate Pair 3 Rifai and Yevri Su (Petitioners), Khairil asserted “Thus, the person in question could be declared to have passed the administrative requirements and be eligible in the 2024 South Bengkulu regent election.”

Administratively Eligible

Candidate Pair 2 Gusnan Mulyadi–Ii Sumirat (Relevant Party) through their legal counsel Husni Thamrin denied the petition’s claims. If Gusnan’s term were to be counted from inauguration, then his term of office would be 1 year 9 months and 7 days, they argued. If it were to be calculated factually, it would still be 2 years and 18 days.

“For that reason, Gusnan Mulyadi has met the requirements to be a regent candidate because the remaining period of his 2019-2021 South Bengkulu regent term of office did not reach 2 years and 6 months,” Husni explained.

Also read: Former South Bengkulu Regent Gusnan Mulyadi’s 2024 Candidacy Deemed Legally Flawed

At the preliminary hearing on Friday, January 10, 2025, the Petitioners requested the annulment of the South Bengkulu KPU Decree No. 1066 of 2024 on the 2024 certification of the South Bengkulu regent election results dated December 5, 2024. In the petition for Case No. 68/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, the Petitioners argued that the Respondent’s decision to certify Gusnan Mulyadi as a candidate for the election through the South Bengkulu KPU Decree No. 545 of 2024 dated September 22, 2024 is in violation of the Constitutional Court Decisions No. 22/PUU-VII/2009, No. 67/PUU-XVIII/2020, and No. 2/PUU-XXI/2023. According to these decisions, the Petitioners argued that Gusnan had not met the requirements to be a regent candidate, in accordance with Article 7 paragraph (2) letter n of Law No. 10 of 2016, which stipulates that a regent candidate shall not have previously served two terms in office.

As the certification of Candidate Pair 02 should be deemed invalid, the remaining candidates include Candidate Pair 01 Elva Hartati–Makrizal Nedi and the Petitioners. The Petitioners argued that the South Bengkulu KPU Decree No. 1066 of 2024 dated December 5, 2024 on the 2024 South Bengkulu regent election results must be declared null and void with respect to the vote acquisition of the pair. Consequently, the Petitioners’ vote acquisition should be recognized as valid.

Also read:

The Petition for Case No. 68/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025
Response by the Respondent
Statement by Bawaslu
Statement by the Relevant Party

Author               : Sri Pujianti
Editor                : N. Rosi
Translator         : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin/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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