Bawaslu’s representatives testifying at the examination hearing for Case No. 65/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the regent election results dispute before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2, Friday (1/31/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The West Manggarai Regency Elections Commission (KPU) as Respondent rejected the claims made by regent-vice regent candidates 01 Christo Mario Y. Pranda and Richardus Tata Sontan (Petitioners) in Case No. 65/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025. The Petitioners previously argued that the Respondent had acted unprofessionally by allowing regent candidate 02 Edistasius Endi, a former convict, to participate in the election.

According to the Respondent, Edistasius Endi is not subject to the provisions of Article 14 paragraph (2) letter f and Article 22 of KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024, as the criminal offense he committed did not result in a sentence of five years or more. The Respondent explained that Endi was a former convict who had been charged under Article 303 bis paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, with a maximum sentence of 4 years. He was subsequently sentenced to 4 months and 15 days in prison, as per the Labuan Bajo District Court Decision No. 45/Pid.B/2016/PN.Lbj.

“The argument presented by the Petitioners was incorrect because West Manggarai regent candidate 02 Edistasius Endi is a former convict in a gambling case under Article 303 bis Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 4 years, not a crime punishable by 5 years or more,” stated the Respondent’s legal counsel Rio Sandy Setiono at the examination hearing on Friday, January 31, 2025 in panel 2 courtroom. The hearing was held to hear testimonies from the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body), as well as to validate evidence.

Rio further stated that Endi had publicly disclosed his status as a former convict through an announcement in Victory News, a local news media in East Nusa Tenggara.

“The Respondent has implemented the administrative requirements for candidate selection in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations for regent candidate 02 Edistasius Endi,” said Rio before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

Furthermore, he explained that the Respondent had enabled the public to submit input and responses regarding the candidacy requirement documents. However, during the designated period, no responses or input were received from the public. Rio also noted that the Petitioners did not exercise their right to submit a response, rebuttal, or objection to the completeness of Endi’s documents.

Therefore, the Respondent requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity of the Respondent's decree on the certification of the 2024 West Manggarai regent election results dispute.

Public Announcement

Meanwhile, Candidate Pair 02 Edistasius Endi and Yulianus Weng (Relevant Party), through their legal counsel Bayu Aditya Putra, also refuted the Petitioners’ argument regarding Endi’s status as a former convict. According to Bayu, the Relevant Party had openly and honestly disclosed Endi’s status, providing evidence of this through a statement by the editor-in-chief of a local mass media. This disclosure was published on the front page of the August 25, 2024 edition of Victory News, fulfilling the candidate requirements outlined in Article 7 letter g of Law No. 10 of 2016.

Therefore, the Relevant Party requested the Court to reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety and to affirm the validity of the Respondent's decree on the certification of the 2024 West Manggarai regent election results dispute.

Meanwhile, the West Manggarai Regency Bawaslu, represented by Maria Magdalena S. Serang, addressed the Petitioners’ argument, stating that the West Manggarai Bawaslu had neither reported nor found any election violations or petition for election disputes.

Also read: West Manggarai Candidate Fails to Publicly Disclose Former Conviction

At the previous hearing, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the West Manggarai KPU Decree No. 804 of 2024 concerning the certification of the 2024 West Manggarai regent election results dated December 3, 2024, and to order the Respondent to do a revote at all polling stations in the regency.

Author              : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator         : Nazila Rikhusshuba/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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