Bawaslu attending the examination hearing for the 2024 Waropen regent election case No. 191/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, Friday (1/24/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh
JAKARTA (MKRI) — As the Respondent, the Waropen Elections Commission (KPU) delivered its response to the petition filed by Ruben Yason Rumboisano and Hendrik (Petitioners). While the Petitioners alleged the use of noken* in the 2024 regent election, the Respondent found the argument to be untrue and legally groundless, since the voting and vote count in 19 polling stations in Kirihi District had been conducted in accordance with the law.
This statement was presented by Yusman, the Respondent's legal counsel in the examination hearing for Case No. 191/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Waropen regent election results dispute on Friday, January 24, 2025. This examination hearing was held to hear the response from the Respondent and testimonies from the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body) and to validate evidence of the Parties and was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.
Yusman insisted that the noken system was not implemented in Kirihi District. Besides, during the vote count in all of the 19 polling stations, no incident/objection forms were filed and no violations were found by the polling station or the district supervisory committees.
"In the district D-result KWK form for Kirihi District, on the minute there was a signature of a mandate witness of the Candidate Pair 1, Petitioners, under the name Seny Wanimbo. By the signing of the minute by the Petitioners' mandate witness, it is appropriate to consider and conclude that the mandate witness of the Petitioners had accepted and acknowledged the vote count recapitulation result for Kirihi District," Yusman argued.
As such, the Respondent requested that the Court reject the Petitioners' petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity and legality of the Respondent's decree on the certification of the 2024 regent election results.
Meanwhile, Candidate Pair 3 Fransiscus Xaverius Mote and Yowel Boari (Relevant Party) through their legal counsel Eva Yulianti also refuted the Petitioner's noken allegation. Eva stated that such an argument was untrue and merely an assumption without considering the legal facts. The Relevant Party elaborated and argued that several regent C-result-copy KWK forms at the polling stations were signed by the witnesses in 19 polling stations in Kirihi District. Moreover, one of the Petitioners' witnesses Seny Wanimbo signed on the vote count recapitulation minute and certificate at the district level.
Similarly, the Relevant Party also requested that the Court reject the Petitioners' petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity and legality of the Respondent's decree on the certification of the 2024 regent election results.
Meanwhile, a member of the Waropen Bawaslu Nikolas Imbiri stated that the institution received no reports and/or findings of election violations and dispute requests.
Also read: Noken System in Waropen Regent Election Questioned
In the preliminary hearing the Petitioners had disputed the use of the noken system in the 2024 Waropen regent election even though Waropen Regency is not included in areas that should be using the system. Therefore, the Petitioners requested that a revote be carried out at 19 polling stations in Kirihi District, 19 in Urei Faisei District, and 1 in Wonti District.
(*) The noken voting system is carried out by communities in Papua, either through public agreement on vote allocation or through the delegation of votes to a tribal leader.
Author : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi
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.
Friday, January 24, 2025 | 15:08 WIB 30