The Respondent’s legal counsel Ali Nurdin (center) testifying at the examination hearing for case No. 284/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the Central Sulawesi gubernatorial election results dispute, Thursday (1/23/2025) in panel 3 courtroom. Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Central Sulawesi Provincial Elections Commission (KPU) as the Respondent explained that candidate disqualification under Article 71 paragraph (5) of the Regional Election Law only applies to incumbents who violate Article 71 paragraphs (2) and (3). The appointment and inauguration of officials by the Central Sulawesi governor on March 22, 2024 was canceled under the Central Sulawesi Decree No. 800/110/BKD.

“The incumbent vice governor did not appoint and inaugurate officials. Instead, it was done by the Palu City mayor at that time with written approval from the Minister of Home Affairs,” explained Ali Nurdin, the Respondent’s legal counsel. Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat presided over the hearing, accompanied by Constitutional Justices Anwar Usman and Enny Urbaningsih in panel 3 courtroom.

The Respondent addressed the Petitioners’ allegation of voter rights violations and obstruction at 152 polling stations, stating that 77,485 voters were registered in the final voters list (DPT). This number is lower than the margin of votes between the candidate pairs (102,825 votes). Therefore, the Petitioners’ claim on its impact on the vote results was baseless.

“If the Petitioners’ argument were true (quad non), and a revote were conducted, it would not significantly impact the election results. The significant margin between the candidate pairs demonstrated the majority’s fair and valid preference,” added Ali.

Relevant Party: Not a Dispute Object

At the hearing, legal counsel Gugum Ridho Putra testified on behalf of governor-vice governor candidate pair 2 Anwar and Reny A. Lamadjido (Relevant Party) that the disputed legal object, i.e. the inauguration decree of officials in Central Sulawesi Provincial Government, was not issued by Reny A. Lamadjido as the vice regent candidate 2. At that time, Lamadjido was the vice mayor of Palu City, and the decree was issued by the Palu City mayor.

“This means no legal consequence for our vice regent candidate. Quod non, it was said that such a decree had been issued six months before the announcement as a candidate pair, after which it would be prohibited. Six months is calculated from March 22, where the [officials’ inauguration decree] was issued on March 21, one day before the prohibition took effect,” explained Gugum.

Furthermore, he stated that the Palu City mayor had annulled the decree, and the Ministry of Home Affairs had also confirmed the annulment was legally valid. “De facto, the disputed object was no longer relevant to be challenged,” Gugum added.

With this annulment, the Relevant Party stated, there was no legal basis to accuse candidate pair Ahmad Ali-Abdul Karim of the issuance of said legal product. They hoped this issue could be resolved according to prevailing legal principles. 

Bawaslu: No Reports

At the hearing, Central Sulawesi Bawaslu member Muh. Rasyidi Bakry stated that the Petitioners’ argument on the Central Sulawesi governor-vice governor election did not include reports or findings of election violations, based on Central Sulawesi Bawaslu supervisory report dated December 12, 2024.

In said report, the witnesses of candidate pair 1 did not sign the D-result-province-KWK-governor form containing the 2024 Central Sulawesi gubernatorial election results.

The Central Sulawesi Bawaslu assessed the alleged violation on October 2, 2024, and determined that the report could not be further investigated as it did not meet administrative violation criteria. The review also revealed that the change of Central Sulawesi governor on March 22, 2024 had occurred before the task order letter was issued. The officials’ inauguration was subsequently cancelled on April 5, 2024, and rescheduled to April 29, 2024, after obtaining the Ministry’s approval.

“Based on the consideration in the Makassar State Administration High Court’s decision which ruled that despite the officials’ inauguration, it lacked legal effect due to the absence of a task order letter. Consequently, the decree did not have binding legal status on the officials. This decision emphasized that the lack of a final appointment, coupled with the issuance of a cancellation letter, effectively rendered the change of officials non-existent,” explained Rasyidi.

The Central Sulawesi Bawaslu issued a status report notification on October 2, 2024, stating that the report did not meet election violation criteria and was not further investigated. They confirmed that all election stages proceeded according to prevailing provisions and no violations affecting the election results were found.

Also read: Ahmad-Al Jufri Allege Administrative Violations in Central Sulawesi Governor Election

Central Sulawesi governor and vice governor candidate pair 1 Ahmad H.M. Ali and Abdul Karim Al Jufri alleged administrative violations in the Central Sulawesi governor election in Case No. 284/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025. The Petitioners argued that candidate pair 2 Anwar–Reny A. Lamadjido and candidate pair 3 Rusdy Mastura–Sulaiman Agusto violated Article 71 paragraph (2) of the Regional Election Law. The violations involved the inauguration of officials in the Central Sulawesi Province and Palu City Government within restricted timeframes, using prohibited purposes and procedures.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the Central Sulawesi KPU No. 434 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 Central Sulawesi governor-vice governor election results. They argued that candidate pairs 2 and 3 had committed administrative violations under Article 71 paragraph (2) of Law No. 10 of 2016. As such, the Petitioners requested the Court to disqualify these candidate pairs from the gubernatorial election and annul the KPU Decree No. 268 of 2024 on the announcement of the 2024 Central Sulawesi governor-vice governor candidate pairs.

Author           : Utami Argawati
Editor             : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                 : Tiara Agustina
Translator      : Ryan Alfian/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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