Ruhermansyah (first from the left) and Ralph Poluan (third from the left) as the Respondent’s legal counsels at the examination hearing for Case No. 23/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 on the Tomohon mayoral election results dispute, Wednesday (1/22/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Tomohon KPU (Elections Commission) as the Respondent denied allegations of state civil apparatus’ (ASN) involvement in supporting the incumbent through messages disseminated via the WhatsApp group “Info Pemkot Tomohon.” This refutation was presented by the Respondent at the examination hearing for Case No. 23/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025, presided over by Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Anwar Usman, and Enny Nurbaningsih on panel 3 on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 in the plenary courtroom.

The Respondent’s legal counsel Ruhermansyah contended that the alleged violations presented by the Petitioners were speculative and lacked direct impact on the election results or changes to the vote counts of any candidates. He asserted that the Petitioners merely sought to associate the vote count with the alleged violations by reducing the votes of the Relevant Party, who had secured the most votes in the disputed areas, and emphasized that this argument was legally unfounded.

The Respondent admitted not being aware of the WhatsApp group and having nothing to do with it. However, in response to the accusation, the Respondent stated that the group was only a collection of names and telephone numbers, where the photos and symbols of the village heads and district heads were not related or had any direct connection with the implementation of the voting and vote counting carried out by the Respondent.

The Respondent also stated that the KPU lacked the capacity to respond to the claim of replacement of ASN before the election. However, they clarified that there had been no recommendation from Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) to the Respondent concerning the issue.

Additionally, Ruhermansyah emphasized that the election process had continued without any recommendations or final decisions from Bawaslu, indicating no structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) administrative violations. “Therefore, the Petitioners’ accusation regarding the replacement of ASN by Candidate Pair 03 does not meet the criteria,” he stated.

Relevant Party Suspects ASN Intimidation by Petitioners

Meanwhile, through their legal counsel Ralph Poluan, Caroll Joram Azarias Senduk and Sendy Gladys Adolfina Rumajar (Relevant Party) denied the Petitioners’ allegation of ASN partiality and involvement. They stressed that the argument was unfounded, as it could be proven that the photo of the head of the legal division of the Tomohon City Government wearing a civil servant uniform and making a ‘C’ gesture (identical to the support gesture for Candidate Pair 03 Caroll-Sendy) was taken on July 15, 2024, before the Relevant Party had registered and been determined as a candidate pair.

“We think the Petitioners failed to show how the existing WhatsApp group ‘Info Pemkot Tomohon’ had significantly influenced and had a massive impact on the election results. On the contrary, we found evidence that the Petitioners were close to the ASN who supported them and intimidated those who did not during several campaign activities. We also found evidence where ASN were directly involved and defended the Petitioners as Candidate Pair 02,” said Reynold.

The Relevant Party also explained that the replacement of officials before the election was carried out in accordance with applicable procedures. Since the inauguration of 78 ASN took place on March 21, 2024, the replacement occurred outside the six-month time limit before the candidates’ determination.

Bawaslu Confirms Report Follow-Up

Tomohon Bawaslu representative Stenly Kowass stated that they had instructed ad hoc members at polling stations to conduct voting and vote counting in accordance with applicable regulations and ethical standards.

Additionally, the Tomohon Bawaslu emphasized to the KPU the importance of addressing every input provided by Bawaslu and following up on suggestions for improvements related to the election organizer database. This database must include information on organizers recommended by Bawaslu for alleged violations of code of ethics committed by the Tomohon KPU ad hoc members.

In handling the report of alleged violations, including the inauguration or staff reshuffle within the Tomohon City Government by the incumbent, the Tomohon Bawaslu summoned and clarified the reporter, the reported party, and experts. The process continued with a second discussion at the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu), where the results of the clarifications and expert statements were further analyzed. Ultimately, the handling of the alleged violations was stopped because the report did not meet the criteria for election crimes as regulated in Article 71 paragraph (2) of the Election Law.

Also read: Tomohon Mayor Candidate Accuses Incumbent of Vote Buying, Asks for a Revote

Author            : Utami Argawati
Editor             : Fitri Yuliana
PR                 : Tiara Agustina
Translator      : Nazila Rikhusshuba/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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