The ruling hearing for case No. 241/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 South Papua governor election results dispute, Wednesday (2//2025). Photo by MKRI.
JAKARTA, MKRI - The Constitutional Court (MK) dismissed the petition of the Candidate Pair for Number 1 Darius Gewilom-Yusak Yaluwo in the dispute over the 2024 South Papua governor election results. This was conveyed by the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Suhartoyo in the ruling hearing decision No. 241/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
“[the Court] declaring that the petition is inadmissible,” stated Chief Justice Suhartoyo, accompanied by eight constitutional justices.
In the Court's consideration read out by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, candidate number 4 Apolo Safanpo has been declared to meet the requirements of Indigenous Papuans decided by the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) of South Papua Province. Although the statement was only signed by the Chairman of the MRP of South Papua Province, the decision is still valid.
Therefore, the Court cannot ignore the application of Article 158 paragraph 2 letter b of Law Number 10 the Year 2016 on the election of governors, regents, and mayors regarding the threshold for filing a petition. In the 2024 South Papua governor election, the Petitioner won 49,000 votes, and candidate pair number 4 as the Relevant Party received 139,580 votes. This means there is a difference of 90,580 votes or 33.5 percent.
“According to the Court, the Petitioners do not have legal standing to file the petition. Thus, the Respondent's exception and the Relevant Party's exception that the Petitioners does not have legal standing are well-founded according to law,” Justice Arief said.
Read also:
Two Governor Candidates Questioned for Not Being South Papua Natives
All South Papua Gubernatorial Candidates Confirmed as Indigenous Papuans
The Petitioners argued that gubernatorial candidates Romanus Mbaraka and Albertus Muyak (Candidate Pair Number 3), as well as Apolo Safanpo and Paskalis Imadawa (Candidate Pair Number 4), did not meet the eligibility requirements as Indigenous Papuans for the South Papua gubernatorial election.
Candidate Apolo Safanpo (Pair Number 4) was reported to have no parents originally from Papua. His father, Shabakin Samad, was from Sulawesi, while his mother, Perpetua Jimomber Safanpo, was from the Asmat tribe in South Papua.
Similarly, Candidate Romanus Mbaraka (Pair Number 3) was also alleged to lack native Papuan ancestry. His parents, Bernadus Kramayir and Veronika Kairaf, were not from Papua. The Petitioners argued that "Kramayir" is a name of Maluku origin, meaning Romanus Mbaraka’s lineage is traced through his mother.
Author : Nawir Arsyad Akbar
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Tiara Agustina
Translator : Dinita Aktivia/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.
Wednesday, February 05, 2025 | 16:20 WIB 25