Bawaslu at the examination hearing for the 2024 Highland Papua gubernatorial election case No. 293/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, Thursday (1/30/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – As the Respondent, the Highland Papua Provincial Elections Commission (KPU) denied the argument made by Candidate Pair 2 Befa Yigibalom and Natan Pahabol (Petitioners) that the votes acquired by Candidate Pair 1 John Tabo and Ones Pahabol (Relevant Party) were due to manipulation in three regencies. The rebuttal was presented at the examination hearing to hear the responses from the Respondent, Relevant Party, and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Agency) and to validate evidence of the parties. The hearing was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on Thursday, January 30, 2025.

Also read: Vote Manipulation in Highland Papua Provincial Election

On behalf of the Respondent, legal counsel Ali Nurdin refuted the Petitioners’ argument that the Respondent had not organized election in 32 out of 46 districts in Tolikara Regency. The Respondent questioned the Petitioners for not elaborating the reasons of the absence of election, even though their witnesses were present at the district-level plenary meeting.

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners had argued that there was destruction of vehicles, submission of vote results via texts and WhatsApp messages, obstruction of main roads, intimidation, testimony of vote manipulation in six districts by the district election committees, as well as kidnapping and hostage taking of the Petitioners’ campaign team in the same districts. However, Ali asserted that the alleged violations were beyond the duties and authority of the Respondent as the election organizer.

“The Petitioners’ arguments relate to election criminal violations, which are the authority of the Integrated Law Enforcement (Gakkumdu), instead of the Respondent,” argued Ali

Furthermore, Ali responded to the Petitioners’ allegation that a transfer of 14,125 votes from the Petitioners to the Relevant Party had happened in four districts in Yahukimo Regency as a result of intimidation, mass obstruction, and changes to the vote acquisition at the district level even though there had previously been community agreement regarding the distribution of votes. The Respondent deemed the allegation unclear, since the Petitioners did not elaborate the identities of the violation perpetrators, the victims, how, when, and where, as well as the impact on the vote acquisition.

Lastly, Ali denied the vote transfer alleged in 15 districts in Lanny Jaya Regency. He said that the Respondent never received a report nor recommendation from the Highland Papua Provincial Bawaslu on this matter.

Thus, in their petitums, the Respondent requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity and legality of the Respondent’s decree on the 2024 gubernatorial election results.

Similarly, the Relevant Party through their legal counsel Semy Benjamin A. Latunussa denied the Petitioners’ allegation of vote manipulation in three regencies in Highland Papua Province. The Petitioners had previously argued that there was no election and plenary meeting at the district level in 32 districts and that the submission of election results was done unilaterally by the witnesses of the Relevant Party via WhatsApp messages, calls, and texts. The Respondent called the allegation false and fabricated.

The same response was expressed by the Respondent against the allegation of transfer of 14,125 votes from the Petitioners to the Relevant Party in four districts in Yahukimo Regency. Latunussa argued that if the votes had been divided, the number would have been equally distributed among the pairs.

“It is impossible that the number of votes distributed to the Relevant Party were greater than the number of votes distributed to the Petitioners, because it would’ve been a potential conflict of interest,” Latunussa argued.

Similarly, Latunussa called the argument alleging a transfer of 38,043 votes in 15 districts in Lanny Jaya Regency false and fabricated, arguing that had the votes been divided, the number would have been equally distributed among the pairs.

Thus, in their petitums, the Relevant Party requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity and legality of the Respondent’s decree on the 2024 gubernatorial election results.

On behalf of the Provincial Bawaslu, Fredy Wamo delivered a statement that there had been no reports, findings of election violations, or requests for election dispute in Tolikara Regency. He reported that there had been two reports filed to the Bawaslu from Yahukimo District, yet they could not be registered. The first was declared to lack material requirements, while the second lacked both formal and material requirements.

In Lanny Jaya Regency, the Bawaslu received three reports concerning the Petitioners’ arguments. The Provincial Bawaslu issued a status report for the first report, declaring the report inadmissible for missing the deadline. As for the second report, the Provincial Bawaslu issued a status report which in essence declared that it did not satisfy the formal and material requirements since the complainant did not complete the submit a revised report within the period of two days. Meanwhile, on December 4, 2024, the Lanny Jaya Bawaslu declared the report inadmissible because the complainant did not satisfy the formal requirements by the time the report expired.    

 

Also read:

Petition for Case No. 293/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025

Response by the Respondent

Statement by the Relevant Party

Statement by Bawaslu

 

Author              : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi
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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