The Respondent's legal counsel Abdul Hanap (right) at the examination hearing for the 2024 Bone Bolango regent election result dispute for case No. 103/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, Thursday (1/23/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held an examination hearing to hear the Respondent’s response and statements by the Relevant Party and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) and to validate evidence of the Parties on Thursday, January 23, 2025. As the Respondent, the Bone Bolango Elections Commission delivered its response before the panel 3 presided over by Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Anwar Usman, and Enny Nurbaningsih). 

On behalf of the Respondent, legal counsel Abdul Hanap delivered clarifications on the application documents of Regent Candidat Ismet Mile. Abdul stated that on September 2, 2025, the Bone Bolango KPU and Bawaslu visited the Gorontalo District Court to verify the matters. They then issued a minute clarifying that Ismet Mile had no outstanding debt based on the Statement Letter from the district court dated August 20, 2024.

Moreover, Abdul explained that the regent candidate's diploma had been verified with the authorized bodies. "The diploma has been verified both factually and administratively by the competent institutions," Abdul added.

Abdul emphasized that in accordance with the KPU (General Elections Commission) Regulation, a debt statement must be obtained from the local district court and appended to a candidate's administration file. In addition, statements from Class II Correctional Institution of Gorontalo and the Bone Bolango Regency Police were filed to assert that Ismet Mile had served his sentence and was not involved in a repeat offence.

The Bone Bolango KPU also argued that the Petitioners' allegation of vote buying must be dismissed, since Article 73 of Regional Elections Law dictates that a vote buying practice must be proven by a court ruling with permanent legal force and a decision from Bawaslu. To this day, Petitioners had not provided valid evidence, the Respondent claimed.

Furthermore, Vice Regent Candidate Risman Tolingguhu as a Relevant Party through his legal counsel affirmed that his diploma is valid, in accordance with the applicable regulations, and verified by the Bawaslu to not constitute an election crime violation.

On the Petitioners' argument alleging Ismet Mile to have an outstanding debt, the Respondent explained that Ismet had fulfilled the requirements stipulated in Article 7 paragraph (2) letter k of Regional Elections Law. The Respondent stated that Ismet handed in a ruling from the Gorontalo District Court stating that he did not have any outstanding relief claim to the state.

The Bone Bolango Bawaslu also provided explanations about the administrative and factual verifications of the election candidates. The Bawaslu's supervisory report declared that Risman Tolingguhu meets the requirements and has submitted his valid GED diploma. It also declared that Ismet Mile had fulfilled the requirements on publishing his status as an ex-convict in print media on August 26, 2024.

Also read: Dubious Diploma under Scrutiny in Bone Bolango Regent Election

In the preliminary hearing, Regent Candidate Pair 1 Merlan S. Uloli and Syamsu T. Botutihe (Petitioners) alleged an administrative violation committed by vice regent candidate Risman Tolingguhu. The violation in question was the submission of a GED diploma whose validity is questionable. The Petitioners believe this to be in violation with Regional Election Law and the KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested that the Court grant their petition in its entirety and annul the Bone Bolango Decree No. 1545 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 regent election results.
 

Author : Utami Argawati

Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.

PR : Fauzan Febriyan

Translator : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin/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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