The Respondent at the ruling hearing for case No. 39/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Mesuji regent election results dispute, Tuesday (2/4/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) dismissed the petition for Case No. 39/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Mesuji regent election results dispute, filed by Candidate Pair 04 Suprapto and Fuad Amrullah. The petition was rendered inadmissible because the arguments presented by the Petitioners were legally groundless, and the vote margin threshold required by Article 158 of Law Number 10 of 2016 on Regional Head Elections (UU Pilkada) was not met.

"In essence, [the Court] declared the Petitioners’ petition inadimissble," said Chief Justice Suhartoyo in the plenary courtroom on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.

In the legal considerations, Justice Arsul Sani explained that the Mesuji Election Commission (KPU), as the Respondent, had verified the administrative requirements of the candidate, confirming that regent candidate Elfianah had the status of a former convict with a legal sentence of two years in prison. Elfianah had also publicly declared her status as a former convict through online media on August 27, 2024. Additionally, the name change from Elviana binti Birta to Hj Elfianah had been previously recognized in the determination of members of the Mesuji Legislative Councile (DPRD) for the 2019-2024 term. Therefore, the Petitioners’ claim that the Respondent allowed the manipulation of the identity of the candidate was legally unfounded.

Furthermore, according to the Court, the Petitioners' claim that the Respondent allowed Candidate Pair 02's campaign equipment (APK) during the quiet period, while the APK of other candidates had been removed, was also legally groundless. This is because the Respondent, in collaboration with the Mesuji Regency KPU and the Mesuji Regency Government, had allowed APK for each candidate pair. Additionally, there had been no reports, findings, or recommendations from the Mesuji Regency Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) regarding the violations alleged by the Petitioners.

Also read:

Suprapto-Fuad Questions Ex-Convict Status of Mesuji Regent-Elect

Mesuji Regency KPU Addresses Former Convict's Candidacy for Regent

The Petitioners’ claim that the Respondent committed an election violation at a polling station in Tanjung Sari and allowed Elfianah to engage in massive fraud involving the Head of Tanjung Mas Rejo Village was also legally unfounded. The Petitioners failed to provide specific details about the polling station where the alleged incident occurred, and all of the candidates’ mandate witnesses had signed the c-results model forms at the polling station. Mesuji Bawaslu had also addressed the report of the alleged violation. However, Gakkumdu (Integrated Law Enforcement) concluded that the report did not meet the criteria for an election crime, and Bawaslu announced the termination of the report, forwarding it to the Acting Regent of Mesuji for further action in accordance with laws and regulations.

Therefore, the Court concluded that there is no justification to set aside the provisions of Article 158 of the Regional Election Law concerning the legal standing of the Petitioners as a formal requirement for filing the petition. The Court also found no special incidents or events that could be deemed to have harmed the conduct of the election, which could serve as grounds to disregard Article 158 of the Regional Election Law.

"Therefore, the Court deems it irrelevant to proceed with the a quo petition to further evidentiary hearing," stated Justice Arsul.

The difference in votes between the Petitioners and the candidate pair with the most votes required to submit a petition is 2,428 votes, or a maximum of 2 percent of the total valid votes, which the Mesuji KPU determined to be 121,404 votes. However, the vote difference between the Petitioners (37,978 votes) and the Relevant Party (61,713 votes) is 23,735 votes, or 19.55 percent. Therefore, the vote difference exceeds the 2 percent threshold, or 2,428 votes.

Author  : Mimi Kartika
Editor   : Fitri Yuliana
PR : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator     : Nazila Rikhusshuba/FS (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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