Chief Justice Suhartoyo sounding the gavel to start the first ruling hearing on the 2024 election results disputes, Wednesday (2/5/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) dismissed the petition on the dispute over the 2024 Papua Pegunungan (Papua Mountains) governor election results petitioned by the Citta Loka Taru Foundation or Lokataru. The Decision No. 302/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 was read out by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, accompanied by the other eight constitutional justices at a ruling hearing on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 in the plenary courtroom.

In the legal consideration read out by Constitutional Justice Ridwan Mansyur, the Court stated that the Petitioner was not a candidate pair in the 2024 Papua Mountains governor election. Thus, according to the Court, the Petitioner did not fulfill the provisions of Article 1 point 3 of Law No. 8 of 2015 and Article 157 paragraph (4) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on Regional Elections.

“Moreover, the 2024 election of governor and vice governor of Papua Pegunungan was followed by more than one pair of candidates, so there was no reason for the Court to provide legal standing for the Petitioner as stipulated in Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d of Constitutional Court Regulation No. 3 of 2024,” Justice Ridwan said.

As the Petitioner did not fulfill the provisions of Article 1 point 3 of Law No. 8 of 2015, Article 157 paragraph (4) of Law No. 10 of 2016, and Article 4 paragraph (1) of Constitutional Court Regulation No. 3 of 2024, the Court did not consider the fulfillment of the provisions for filing a petition as stipulated in Article 158 paragraph (1) of Law No. 10 of 2016. However, the Court appreciated the Petitioner’s spirit in overseeing the regional elections, in this case of Papua Pegunungan.

“The Court appreciates the intention and endeavor of the Petitioner in filing the petition as a form of attention and concern for the development of democracy for the people in the Province of Papua Pegunungan,” Justice Ridwan stated.

Also read:

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Highland Papua Province KPU Highlights Legal Status of Lokataru

At the preliminary hearing for Case No. 302/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on Wednesday, January 15, the Petitioner emphasized that it is a non-governmental organization with a mission focused on social, humanitarian, and religious causes. By establishing its legal standing, the Petitioner hopes to contribute to shaping a broader concept of legal standing, aspiring to align it with the law envisioned for the future.

The Petitioner further stated that as an organization, Lokataru also operates as an election monitoring institution, utilizing academically grounded methodologies supported by various FGDs and training sessions. A ruling deeming it lacking legal standing in the general election contestation would effectively negate the role and participation of election monitoring institutions, it asserted.

The Petitioner argued that the Highland Papua Provincial KPU (Elections Commission) as Respondent did not have the capacity to organize the regional election in the province. He also asserted that the Respondent had failed to carry out its duties professionally and to provide legal certainty as they believed that the revote did not follow statutory provisions, in this case, Article 79 of the KPU Regulation No. 17 of 2024.

As such, the Petitioner requested the Court to repeat all the election stages, from registration to the certification of the elected Highland Papua governor.

Author               : Ahmad Sulthon Zainawi.
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator         : Dinita Aktivia/Yuniar Widiastuti (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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