Maruarar Siahaan testifying as an expert for the Relevant Party at an evidentiary hearing for Case No.304/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 on the dispute over the 2024 Papua gubernatorial election results, Monday (2/10/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) — On Monday, February 10, 2025, the Constitutional Court (MK) held an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 304 /PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025 regarding the dispute over the 2024 Papua gubernatorial election results. Experts and witnesses gave information regarding the certificates of non-conviction and non-deprivation of voting rights used by Vice Governor Candidate Number 1 Yermias Bisai.

Candidate Pair Number 2 Matius Fakhiri and Aryoko Alberto Ferdinand Rumaropen as the Petitioners argued that the certificates submitted by Yermias Bisai had not come from a district court whose jurisdiction is in the domicile address listed in the candidate’s ID card. They alleged that Bisai had falsified the certificates belonging to Samuel Fritsko Jenggu, issued by the Jayapura District Court.

Jenggu was also presented by the Petitioners at today’s hearing and answered the question posed by the Petitioners’ legal counsel Bambang Widjojanto about whether anyone from the KPU (General Elections Commission) had clarified the certificates’ ownership.

“I have never been summoned by the KPU or Bawaslu. [Instead,] I am here to express my condolences for the two institutions that did not follow the existing rules,” he said before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.

Jenggu admitted that he had applied for the certificates at the Jayapura District Court to be able to run for the election of the Papuan People’s Representatives’ Council (DPRP). He only found out on September 19, 2024 that his certificates No. 539 and 540 had been claimed by another and he felt aggrieved. He then reported the alleged falsification to the Papua Police on October 12, 2024.

He also claimed to have been shown Yermias Bisai’s certificates. Although the numbers were the same, Bisai’s certificates did not have coordinating signatures and had a different placement of barcode. One more thing to note that the DPRP selection team had failed to scan the certificates’ barcodes to confirm its authenticity.

On October 27, when Jenggu requested confirmation of the validity of his certificates to the Jayapura District Court, the court had intended to replace his certificates with new ones. “I refused and argued [with them] because I had never used the certificates. I asked them, ‘Can two people use certificates with the same number? They said no. So, my certificates were original. [I asked the district court] to confirm it through an official letter,” he revealed.

The Petitioners also alleged that Yermias Bisai had claimed the domicile address of another person as his. The address is Jalan Baliem Number 8, Manda Village, North Jayapura District, Jayapura City, Papua Province. This can be seen from a certificate made by the local village head. However, the head of RT (neighborhood unit) 03, Filep Mayor, denied that Bisai resides at that address. Mayor said it is the house belonging to his deceased father Hans Mayor. The person who now lives in the house is his younger brother, Yakob Mayor. “I have protested through the village head,” Mayor said.

No Nomination Issues

Candidate Number 1 Benhur Tomy Mano-Yermias Bisai as the Relevant Party presented Maruarar Siahaan, a former constitutional justice for 2003-2009, as an expert. Siahaan said that if the Constitutional Court accepted the Petitioners’ petitum on the juridical flaw of the vice governor candidate’s administrative requirements, it would not have an impact on Benhur Tomy Manor as the elected regional head.

“If the Constitutional Court deemed it proven, it would only lead to personal responsibility that cannot result in the cancellation of the validity of voting [nor can it] eliminate the election of the governor candidate who was paired with [the vice governor candidate in question],” he argued.

The Papua Provincial KPU as Respondent presented Andalas University lecturer Khairul Fahmi as an expert. Khairul stated that the Respondent’s action in receiving public inputs on the nomination requirements was in accordance with applicable regulations. He said there are no legal problems in the acceptance of documents for the nomination for the 2024 Papua governor election.

“As long as the documents are recognized by the issuing institution, the KPU would have no choice but to accept them to fill the requirements,” he said.

According to Khairul, the Jayapura District Court has stated that Yermias Bisai has never been convicted and is not currently deprived of his right to vote. This sufficiently satisfy the requirements to qualify as a regional head candidate.

Also read:

Alleged Ineligible Candidates, Identity Politics in Papua Gubernatorial Election

Papua KPU: Yermias Bisai Cleared to Run as Vice Governor Candidate

The Respondent sought clarifications from the chief judge of the Jayapura District Court on September 20, 2024. At the meeting, the chief judge also reported to have issued Certificates No. 844 and 845 dated September 19, 2024, asserting Bisai’ non-conviction and right to vote. Thus, Bisai had fulfilled the requirements in the registration phase before the candidate pair certification on September 22, 2024.

The Papua Provincial KPU certified 269,970 votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 Benhur Tomy Mano-Yermias Bisai and 262,777 votes for Candidate Pair Number 2 Matius D Fakhiri-Aryoko F. Rumaropen. The Petitioners requested the Court to annul the certification of the votes for Candidate Pair Number 1 as stated in the Papua KPU Decree No. 250 of 2024; to disqualify Candidate Pair Number 1; and to certify the correct vote acquisition as follows: Candidate Pair Number 1 with zero votes and Candidate Pair Number 2 with 262,777 votes; and to declare Candidate Pair Number 2 as the elected candidates.

Author               : Mimi Kartika
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator         : Dinita Aktivia/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.

---