The ruling hearing for case No. 98/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 East Belitung regent election results dispute, Tuesday (2/4/2025). Photo by MKRI

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) ruled the petition for Case No. 98/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 East Belitung regent election results dispute inadmissible. This case was filed by candidate pair 1 Burhanudin-Ali Reza Mahendra. Chief Justice Suhartoyo delivered the ruling with the other eight Justices in the plenary courtroom in panel 1 courtroom on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.

Reading the legal considerations, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra explained that the vote margin between the Petitioners and the leading candidate pair was 21,648 (or 31,72 percent). Therefore, the Petitioners did not meet the provision to file the petition as stipulated in Article 158 paragraph (2) letter a of Law No. 10 of 2016

“Considering the above legal considerations, the Petitioners did not have legal standing to file the a quo petition,” stated Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra.

The Court also did not find any special events that considered harming the 2024 East Belitung regent election.

“The Court lacked confidence in the validity of the Petitioners’ main arguments. Therefore, the Court saw no reason to disregard the provisions of Article 158 of Law 10 of 2016 regarding the Petitioners’ legal standing,” explained Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra.

Also read:

Bazaar Program in East Belitung Regency Questioned 

Controversy of Cheap Rice Program in East Belitung Regent Election

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioner argued that the cheap bazaar was a type of violation and/or systematic and massive money politics. It was carried out before voting day where the community was given money to buy cheap rice. It was done in five districts: Manggar, Dendang, Gantung, Simpang Renggiang, and Kelapa Kampit. The Petitioners argued that it had harm their vote acquisition.

The Petitioners requested the Court to order the Belitung Regency KPU (Elections Commission) to conduct a revote in the five districts.

Author       : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi

Editor        : Fitri Yuliana
Translator  : Ryan Alfian/FS

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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