The Respondent’s legal counsel Hendra Kasim in the examination hearing for Case No. 245/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 concerning the North Maluku gubernatorial election, on Wednesday (1/22), in the panel 3 courtroom.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held an examination hearing for Case No. 245/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 concerning the 2024 North Maluku Province gubernatorial election. The North Maluku KPU (Elections Commission) as the Respondent refuted several allegations filed by the Petitioners. Candidate Pair 02 Aliong Mus–Sahril Tharir as the Petitioners argued that Structured, Systematic, and Massive (TSM) violations occurred, particularly involving mobilization of state civil apparatus (ASN) and related officials supporting the most-voted candidate pair.

Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Anwar Usman and Enny Nurbaningsih presided over the examination hearing on panel 3. The KPU’s legal counsel Hendra Kasim clarified that the recruitment process for ad hoc election organizers, from the district level to polling stations, adhered to the applicable election laws, emphasizing that no legal prohibition preventing ASN from serving as ad hoc organizers, such as PPK (district election committee), PPS (polling committee), or KPPS (polling station working committee). “No reports or recommendations from Bawaslu regarding alleged violations of the neutrality of ad hoc organizers who are civil servants,” asserted Hendra.

The KPU addressed concerns about the health examination of Sherly Tjoanda, the replacement candidate suspected of health issues following an accident. They emphasized that the health assessment was conducted strictly with legal regulations. Furthermore, the results, issued by an authorized medical team, confirmed that Sherly Tjoanda was deemed "Capable" of fulfilling the responsibilities of a regional head.

They further stated that if the Petitioners are dissatisfied with the North Maluku Provincial KPU's decision, they are encouraged to follow the legal procedures for election disputes outlined in the law. This includes submitting a report to Bawaslu or pursuing legal action through the State Administrative Court (PTUN).

In addition, they emphasized that it is not within their authority to address the alleged vote-buying practices raised by the Petitioners. This responsibility falls under the authority of the North Maluku Province Bawaslu, which is tasked with supervising, preventing, and taking action on election law violations. "Throughout the election, the Respondent did not receive any public reports nor recommendations from Bawaslu," the North Maluku KPU clarified.

The Head of the North Maluku Bawaslu, Masita Nawawi Gani also responded to the Petitioners’ argument before the Court. Bawaslu explained that, based on their direct supervision at the North Maluku KPU Office, as outlined in the supervision results report dated October 17, 2024, they did not have full access to verify the completeness of the administrative documents for the replacement candidate, Sherly Tjoanda. Nevertheless, the North Maluku KPU proceeded to certify that the administrative requirements for the replacement gubernatorial candidate, Sherly Tjoanda, were complete.

Additionally, the North Maluku Bawaslu shared their perspective on the selection of RSPAD Gatot Soebroto in Central Jakarta as the location for Sherly Tjoanda’s health examination. From a normative standpoint, Bawaslu stated that the existing regulations do not specifically mandate which government hospitals must be used. There is no requirement that the chosen hospital be the same as the designated for all candidate pairs, nor does it need to be located within the province where the election is taking place.

Therefore, the North Maluku Bawaslu returned the responsibility to the technical authority, the North Maluku KPU, to adjust the regulations by issuing a new decree accommodating the selection of RSPAD Gatot Soebroto as the location for the health examination. This was deemed necessary, considering that the North Maluku KPU had previously issued Decree No. 34 of 2024, which designated specific hospitals for conducting health checks for prospective candidates for the 2024 North Maluku gubernatorial election.

Bawaslu believes that before the North Maluku KPU could designate RSPAD Gatot Soebroto, Central Jakarta for Sherly Tjoanda’s health examination, the KPU should have first sought recommendations from three representative hospitals, covering all aspects, from the agency responsible for managing government affairs in the health sector at the provincial level.

"What is meant by a representative in all aspects must meet several criteria stipulated in KPU Decree No. 1090 of 2024. Based on the criteria as referred to, factually, RSPAD Gatot Soebroto has met the criteria, the North Maluku KPU must still go through the mechanism stipulated in KPU Decree No. 1090 of 2024. Referring to the results of direct supervision by the North Maluku Bawaslu of the health examination on behalf of Sherly Tjoanda, information was obtained from the health examination team that not all examination items could be observed directly by Bawaslu. Thus, Bawaslu had difficulty in proving the material truth of the examination results. With such limited authority, they can only ensure the conformity of each stage that has been carried out by the health examination team," said Bawaslu.

Masita further explained that the health examination was completed at 02:00 PM Local Time, and the results were submitted to the North Maluku KPU at 08:00 PM Local Time. The results were received by Iwan Kader, one of the North Maluku KPU Leaders. However, a copy of the health examination results was not given to the North Maluku Bawaslu. "One of the Bawaslu staff had asked for documentation or photos related to the results of the examination from structural officials at the North Maluku KPU secretariat, but it was rejected because prior approval had to be obtained," he explained.

Bawaslu emphasized that the health examination process must adhere to the mechanism outlined in KPU Decree No. 1090 of 2024. The decree, specifically on pages 13 and 14, mandates that the Provincial KPU and Regency/City KPU obtain recommendations from three government hospitals, including a Police/Army hospital, through the provincial or district/city health office before designating a hospital as the location for health checks. Accordingly, before selecting RSPAD Gatot Soebroto Jakarta as the health check location for Sherly Tjoanda, the North Maluku KPU should have first sought recommendations from three representative hospitals covering various criteria through the provincial health office.

"As explained above, until the day of the health examination, October 18, 2024, the North Maluku Bawaslu has not received a copy of any document in any form related to the procedure for requesting recommendations for 3 (three) representative hospitals (meeting all criteria) from the North Maluku KPU to the agency that organizes government affairs in the health sector at the Provincial Level," said Masita.

Meanwhile, Denny Indrayana emphasized that the Petitioners did not explain the reasons why the Court should take over the handling of the violations. "Moreover, no report of TSM administrative violations to Bawaslu. Not a single one. So, if it suddenly appears here, we consider this a problem," said Denny.

Denny believes that the Relevant Party and the public reported the Petitioners. However, these reports were not registered and not followed up. "This is important, Your Honor, because there is a posita argument that says Bawaslu is giving special treatment or is unfair. Our report was not followed up or registered," he explained.

The Relevant Party stated that the arguments filed by the Petitioners regarding Sherly Tjoanda's medical examination did not have a strong legal basis and were full of assumptions. Therefore, they asked the Court to reject all of the Petitioners’ arguments because they were legally groundless. "The time given for the replacement, the KPU issued a Decree. The time is only approximately 10 days. Must move quickly," said Denny.

Therefore, they requested the Court to annul all of the Petitioners’ petitions, citing failure to have a strong legal basis and to fulfill all required elements in the applicable law and regulations. 

Author: Utami Argawati
Editor: Fitri Yuliana
PR: Tiara Agustina
Translator: Syifa Amelia/FS (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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