The Talaud Islands KPU’s (Respondent) legal counsel Gilber Lumbanraja testifying for the 2024 regional election results dispute case No. 51/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, Thursday (1/23/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The arguments of the petition in Case No.51/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 disputing the 2024 Talaud Islands regent election were refuted by the Talaud Regency Elections Commission (KPU). The Talaud Islands KPU (Respondent) conveyed its responses at the examination hearing on Thursday, January 23, 2025.

The hearing was scheduled to hear the Respondent’s response and testimonies by the Relevant Party and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) and the validation of evidence. The hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah on panel 1.

Candidate Pair Number 2 Irwan Hasan and Haroni Mamentiwalo are the Petitioners, while Candidate Pair Number 3 Welly Titah and Anisya Gretsya Bambungan are the Relevant Party.

The Talaud Islands KPU rejected the Petitioners’ claims of structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations involving the state civil apparatus (ASN). They argued the claim had no legal basis to be lodged to the Constitutional Court, because the Petitioners had reported the issue to the Talaud Islands Regency Bawaslu.

The Respondent also highlighted the Petitioners’ claim of a decree directing ASN to support a certain candidate pair, saying the issue is only assumed as an administrative issue and is actually not under the Court’s authority.

“Thus, the Petitioners’ argument regarding administrative violation in the form of politicization of bureaucrats is not an issue related to election results, so the Respondent requests the Constitutional Court to reject [the petition] or at least set it aside,” said the Respondent’s legal counsel Gilbert Lumbanraja.

The Respondent also answered the claim of money politics during the campaign period until voting. The Petitioners argued that the practice was committed by the Relevant Party and their campaign team.

The Respondent stated that this has been followed up by the Talaud Islands Bawaslu. “And the Respondent did not receive any recommendations on the issue of the campaign team of Candidate Pair Number 3,” Lumbanraja said.

The Respondent also said they had implemented the North Sulawesi Provincial Bawaslu’s recommendation on money politics in the form of cash transfers to election organizers by issuing Decree No. 1 of 2025 on the imposition of sanctions for violations of the code of ethics and conduct of election organizers. The sanctions were addressed to seven people who were district election committee (PPK) members, polling committee (PPS) chairpersons, and polling station working committee (KPPS) members.

The Respondent also denied the procedural violation argued by the Petitioners. The Petitioners alleged that the status of one of the candidate pairs as a suspect had not been announced to the public.

“Since the nomination stage until the voting stage, the Respondent has never received a recommendation from the Talaud Islands Bawaslu regarding the status of Candidate Pair Number 4 as suspect,” Lumbanraja stressed.

Distorting Facts

The Relevant Party refuted all of the Petitioners’ allegations of violations, including the involvement of ASN in securing the Relevant Party’s victory.

According to the Relevant Party, such accusations actually distorted facts. Instead, they counter-accused the Petitioners of structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations by involving ASN. For this reason, the Relevant Party reported the Petitioners to Bawaslu Talaud Islands Regency.

“In relation to these [alleged] violations, [the Relevant Party] have filed five reports to the Talaud Islands Regency Bawaslu,” stated the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Vanderik Wailan.

Wailan said that the report to the Talaud Islands Bawaslu had been followed up with a recommendation to the National Civil Service Agency (BKN).

The recommendation to BKN was also confirmed by the chairperson of the Talaud Islands Bawaslu, Zenith Timotius Malli Anaada. He asserted that Bawaslu had issued four recommendations, which were then forwarded to BKN. The four recommendations are related to alleged violations of ASN’s neutrality.

“Four recommendations were filed on ASN violations then processed and followed up to BKN,” he stated.

At the hearing, the panel of justices highlighted the issue of plano sheets that were not found in the ballot boxes. Talaud Islands Bawaslu also explained that the C-plano sheets in question were confused with the C-plano sheets for the North Sulawesi gubernatorial election.

“From our staff’s observations in Melongkuane District, some governor C-plano sheets were not in the boxes, but was in the regency boxes,” Anaada said.

The panel requested that all issues argued by the Petitioners in this case, along with the responses and statements of the parties, be examined further. This is because this case does not pass the threshold requirement as per Article 158 of the Regional Election Law, so it could potentially continue to the next stage.

“Although not all of [the arguments]. As long as there are no problems with the formal requirements, the petition is not vague,” stated Chief Justice Suhartoyo.

Also read: Civil Servants’ WhatsApp Group Sparks Talaud Island Election Dispute

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, January 13, 2025, the Petitioners argued that there had been a WhatsApp group “WT-AB 2024 Volunteers,” whose members were dominated by state civil apparatus (ASN). The group was directed to support the Relevant Party in the 2024 Talaud Islands regent election. The Petitioners also argued the practice of money politics to the public and election organizers since the campaign period until the voting process.

Then in their petition, the Petitioners also mentioned the active involvement of several officials in the local government as well as village officials, as seen from the issuance of a decree for the victory of a certain candidate pair. In the petition, they also mentioned a procedural violation allegedly committed by election organizers, specifically the lack of announcement of the status of one of the candidates as suspect.

 

Also read:

Petition Case No.51/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025

Response by the Respondent

Statement by Bawaslu

Statement by the Relevant Party

 

Author         : Ashri Fadilla
Editor          : N. Rosi
Translators  : Dinita Aktivia, 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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