Bawaslu at the examination hearing for the 2024 Pegunungan Bintang regent election case No. 228/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu, Friday (1/31/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — As the Respondent, the Pegunungan Bintang Regency Elections Commission (KPU) asserted that Theodorus Sitokdana and Terianus Keduman (Petitioners) do not have the legal standing in the 2024 regent election results dispute on Friday, January 31, 2025. The commission delivered their response at the examination hearing to hear the Respondent’s response and statements from the Relevant Party and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body), 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 panel 2.

Also read: Excluded, Theodorus-Terianus Demands a Revote in Pegunungan Bintang

The Respondent’s legal counsel Soetjahyono Tukiran explained that the Petitioners had never registered or been certified as a regent candidate pair. Tukiran argued that they do not satisfy the provisions of Article 4 paragraph (1) of the Constitutional Court Regulation (PMK) No. 3 of 2024. Moreover, the Petitioners had admitted in their petition that they were not a candidate pair registered by the Respondent from the registration period through the certification of candidate pair numbers.

Tukiran brought up the Petitioners claim that they had been unable to run in the 2024 regent election due to obstruction, threats, intimidation, and persecution. The Respondent insisted on having never received any report on such matters.

“The Respondent is not aware whether the obstruction had happened or not,” Tukiran argued.

He stated that the Petitioners had appealed to the Manado High State Administrative Court (PTTUN) and the Supreme Court (MA). However, those legal efforts were rejected.

Thus, 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 certification of the 2024 regent election results.

As the Relevant Party, Candidate Pair 2 Spei Yan Birdana–Arnold Nam spoke at the hearing through legal counsel Relika Tambunan. They also argued the lack of the Petitioners’ legal standing in the case. Referring to the KPU Decree No. 1200 and 1201, the Relevant Party stated that the Petitioners were not listed as one of the regent candidate pairs in the 2024 election.

Furthermore, Relika argued that the entirety of the arguments in the Petitioners’ petition did not concern a difference in vote acquisition that could alter the elected candidate pair in the Respondent’s certification and was not based on valid sources. This was due to the fact that the Petitioners were not among the candidate pairs certified.

Hence, the Relevant Party also 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 certification of the 2024 regent election results.

Meanwhile, the Pegunungan Bintang Bawaslu through Yance Malo delivered a statement which in essence confirmed that the institution had received and handled reports of obstruction and impediment of election participation submitted by the Petitioners. Subsequently, Bawaslu forwarded the report to the Regency Police on September 4, 2024.

On September 25, 2024, Bawaslu received and handled a petition for an election dispute lodged by the Petitioners themselves. Following a plenary meeting, the petition was rejected since the Petitioners were deemed unable to explain their direct loss incurred by the issuance of the Respondent’s decree on the certification of the 2024 regent candidate pairs.

Read more:

Petition for Case No. 228/PHPU.BUP-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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