Bawaslu member Arfah at the examination hearing for the 2024 Mimika regent election case No. 256/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) – As the Relevant Party, Mimika Regent Candidate 1 Johannes Rettob delivered his statement at the examination hearing for Case No. 256/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on Thursday, January 23, 2025. There, he denied having replaced Mimika government officials, which constitutes a violation of Article 71 paragraph (2) of Law No. of 2016 on Regional Elections (Regional Election Law).

“The Relevant Party has never committed any violation of Law No. 10 of 2016 as argued by the Petitioners in their key points number 3. Similarly, [he] never issued a decision to replace officials as cited in the decision dated July 30, 2024, which is widely circulated,” said the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Heru Widodo before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

Heru explained that the decision letter in question was made and signed by the acting regional secretary of Mimika on July 30, 2024 without the knowledge or instruction from the acting regent at the time, Johannes Rettob. One day after the Central Papuan Provincial Inspectorate intervened and remedied the situation, the acting regional secretary withdrew the decision letter by issuing a retraction letter dated August 30, 2024.

Johannes Rettod had been reported several times to the Mimika Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) on the allegation of officials’ reshuffle. However, according to the Relevant Party, from clarification in Bawaslu and chronologically explanation of the actual legal events, Bawaslu concluded that none of the reports were declared to have satisfied the criteria of violation under Article 71 of Law No. 10 of 2016.

Mimika Bawaslu member Arfah said that the institution had received six reports of alleged violations of Article 71 paragraph (2) of the Regional Elections Law, which reported Johannes Rettob. However, Bawaslu declared the incident reported not an administrative violation nor election crime. Instead, they forwarded it to another institution to be examined for violation of other laws.

Mimika Bawaslu reported to have examined the testimonies of the complainant, the reported, the witnesses, and other parties. “In essence, the incident reported was not an election administrative violation and election crime, but rather a violation of other laws,” Arfah stated.

On the other hand, the Mimika Regency Elections Commission (KPU) as the Respondent stated that the allegation against Johannes Rettob did not qualify under Article 7 paragraph (2) of the Regional Election Law. Therefore, the KPU merely provided clarifications on the documents submitted. The clarifications were appended in a report. Afterwards, the Respondent held a plenary meeting and decided to certify Johannes Rettob and his partner as a Regent Candidate Pair.

“The Respondent also never received any decision on election dispute, court ruling, or recommendation from Bawaslu instructing to disqualify one of the 2024 Mimika regent-vice regent candidate pairs, so the argument is not relevant to be considered,” explained Afif Rosadiansyah, the Respondent’s legal counsel.

Also read:

Mimika Incumbent Regent Replaced Officials, Violates Regional Election Law

Voter Turnout Over 100 Percent in Mimika Regency Election

Mimika Regency Election Conducted Without Noken Voting System

Regent Candidate Pair 1 Johannes Rettob and Emanuel Kemong are the Relevant Party in this case. Meanwhile, Regent Candidate 3 Alexsander Omaleng and Yusuf Rombe Pasarrin (Petitioners) of Case No. 256/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 objected the vote acquisition certified by the KPU, in which Candidate Pair 1 earned 77,818 votes, Candidate Pair 2 66,268 votes, and Candidate Pair 3 74,139 votes.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to disqualify Regent Candidate Johannes Rettob from Candidate Pair 1 on the grounds of not meeting the candidacy requirements. They also sought the annulment of Mimika KPU Decree No. 61 of 2024 on the certification of the recapitulation of vote count results, dated December 9, 2024, and Mimika KPU Decree No. 38 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 regent candidate pairs. Furthermore, the Petitioners requested the Court to declare the newly rectified vote acquisition, with Candidate Pair 1 receiving 0 votes due to disqualification, Candidate Pair 2 obtaining 66,268 votes, and Candidate Pair 3 receiving 74,139 votes.

Also read:

The petition for Case No. 256/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025

Statement by the Relevant Party

Response by the Respondent

Statement by Bawaslu

Author            : Mimi Kartika
Editor              : N. Rosi
Translator      : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin/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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