Markus Madai testifying on behalf of the Central Papua Bawaslu at an examination hearing to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu on panel 1, Friday (1/31/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The implementation of the noken* system was highlighted at the examination hearing for Case No. 295/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Central Papua gubernatorial election results dispute. This panel heard the Respondent’s response, testimonies by the Relevant Party and the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), and validated evidence presented by the parties. Chief Justice Suhartoyo presided over the hearing, accompanied by Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah in panel 1 courtroom on Friday, January 31, 2025.

The Central Papua Province Elections Commission (KPU) is the Respondent, while governor-vice governor candidate pair 3 Meki Nawipa and Deinas Geley, certified as the elected candidate pair by the Respondent, are the Relevant Party.

At the hearing, the Relevant Party addressed the Petitioners’ argument of vote deflation in Deiyai Regency from 77,400 to 48,375 votes. They argued that the Petitioners did not understand how the noken system was implemented.

The Relevant Party stated that the noken system was conducted on the same election day in Central Papua Province (November 27, 2024). It was conducted through agreement, recorded in the recapitulation form and tiered recapitulation by the Central Papua KPU.

“[The recapitulation] began from C-result, district D-result, regency D-result, until province D-result. So, [the Petitioners’] argument was false and not in accordance with the provisions in KPU Decree No. 1774 of 2024,” said the Relevant Party’s legal counsel, Hardian Tuasamu.

The Respondent specified in their written statement that they had hold the gubernatorial election following the applicable regulations, including areas employing the noken system, such as Deiyai. “We need to convey that we worked professionally and maintained our integrity as an election organizer in the 2024 regional head election by following the law and we did not violate any provisions of laws and regulations,” the Respondent wrote.

The Respondent’s legal counsel explained that the implementation of the noken system in Paniai was influenced by the clan of the district election committees (PPD). Despite this influence, the Respondent ensured the PPD did not commit any violations, even though they belong to the Nawipa clan, the same clan as the governor candidate of the Relevant Party.

“Basically, [the PPD’s] clans serving as election organizers carried out their duties, authority, and obligations in accordance with applicable regulations,” emphasized Rezky Panji Perdana Martua Hasibuan, the Respondent’s legal counsel.

Response to Allegation of Bribery

The litigating parties also responded to the petition alleging vote-buying, including Rp200 million bribe involving the Relevant Party and the Respondent. The Respondent denied the allegation, citing the Election Organizer Ethics Council (DKPP) Decision No. 33-PKE-DKPP/I/2025, which stated that they had not been involved in the alleged bribery, contrary to the Petitioners’ accusation.

“The DKPP Decision No. 33-PKE-DKPP/I/2025 expressly outlines that, in essence, no indicators or evidence were found that the Central Papua governor-vice governor candidate pairs had engaged in vote-buying involving the Paniai Regency KPU,” asserted Rezky Panji Perdana Martua Hasibuan, the Respondent's legal counsel.

The Relevant Party also emphasized the DKPP decision in their written statement. Their legal counsel highlighted the decision’s legal considerations.

Among the considerations, the Relevant Party revealed that the money was provided to secure the plenary recapitulation meeting at the Paniai Regency level, which was disturbed by a commotion.

“As such, the Petitioners’ allegation that the money was from the Relevant Party was irrelevant,” said Hardian Tuasamu, the Relevant Party’s legal counsel.

Based on their supervisory result, the Paniai Regency Bawaslu chairman issued a recommendation regarding the incident on December 11, 2024, requesting the cancellation of the plenary recapitulation meeting at the Paniai Regency level.

However, it was revealed that the recommendation was not issued through a proper mechanism by a plenary meeting of the Paniai Bawaslu commissioners. “The recommendation to cancel the plenary meeting on vote recapitulation at the Paniai regency level in its entirety was not in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Bawaslu's regulations on the supervision of the recapitulation of vote counting and acquisition,” said Markus Madai, chairman of the Central Papua Provincial Bawaslu.

As such, Paniai Regency Bawaslu members issued a clarification letter on December 14 regarding the recommendation letter by the Paniai Regency Bawaslu chairman. “In essence, the recommendation to cancel the plenary meeting on vote recapitulation at Paniai Regency level in its entirety was not based on the provisions,” added Markus.

Also read: Money Politics in Central Papua Noken System Highlighted

At the preliminary meeting, the Petitioners argued that violations occurred in the implementation of the noken system in Deiyai Regency, Central Papua had led to discrepancies in votes. The Petitioners claimed that their votes were deflated from 77,400 to 48,375 by the noken agreement.

The Petitioners also argued that violations had occurred in Paniai Regency, Central Papua, in the form of failure over four times plenary certification at the regency level. In addition, in Paniai Regency, the Respondent alleged bribery of Rp200 million in the Central Papua gubernatorial election

The Petitioner also argued that in Puncak Jaya Regency, the Respondent had deliberately extended the time for transferring votes to candidate pair 4. The Petitioners also suspected monetary reward distribution during this vote transfer.

*) 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.

 

Read also:

Petition for Case No. 295/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025

The Relevant Party’s statement

Respondent’s response

Bawaslu’s statement

Author         : Ashri Fadilla
Editor          : N. Rosi
Translator    : Ryan Alfian/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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