I Gustu Putu Artha (left) and Aswanto (right) testifying as experts for the Relevant Party at an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 55/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 concerning the 2024 North Gorontalo regent election results dispute in the plenary courtroom, Tuesday (2/11). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.
JAKARTA (MKRI) – The North Gorontalo Regency KPU (Elections Commission) as Respondent revealed the status of regent candidate 3 Ridwan Yasin as a former convict as stated on a police clearance certificate (SKCK). North Gorontalo Regency KPU commissioner Noval Katili mentioned this at an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 55/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the North Gorontalo regent election results dispute on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
Noval’s testimony was a response to a question by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat (panel chair). “It is written in the certificate that [Ridwan Yasin] was a convict,” Noval replied. North Gorontalo Regency Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) member Fadli Bukoting confirmed this information.
Justice Arief further asked about the Respondent’s consideration for disqualifying Candidate Pair 3 Ridwan Yasin-Muksin Badar. Noval replied that the KPU Decree had followed the KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 8 of 2024.
“Article 14 letter f (of PKPU No. 8 of 2024) which (states that a candidate should have) never been convicted with a prison sentence of five years or more except for political crimes and so on,” stated Noval. He further revealed that the KPU decree had requalify Candidate Pair 3 following the North Gorontalo Bawaslu’s recommendation.
Compromised Election Integrity
At the evidentiary hearing, Candidate Pair 2 Thariq Modanggu-Nurjana Hasan Yusuf as the Petitioners presented two experts. One of them was election expert Titi Anggraini. In her statement, Titi explained that allowing unqualified candidates to run in the election reflects compromised election integrity, whether in the execution or results of the election. She asserted that the failure to uphold constitutionalism in elections potentially leads to skepticism toward the fulfillment of the principle of free and fair election from the beginning to the end.
“An election implemented by an institution or authority that allows an unconstitutional candidate to participate will lead to skepticism against the organizer’s integrity and credibility throughout the election process,” she emphasized.
Titi added that the Constitutional Court maintains a strict and zero-tolerance approach toward violations of fundamental and measurable candidacy requirements. She said that such violations could serve as grounds for annulling election results if it is proven that certain participants have failed to meet the eligibility criteria from the outset.
“The Court is allowed to annul the general or regional election results due to ineligible candidates from the outset. It was stipulated in the Constitutional Court Decision No. 190/PHPU.D-VIII/2010 on the Pandeglang regent election,” she explained.
Titi further explained that felons can only run for the regional election when the crime committed falls under criminal negligence or a political crime—defined as an act deemed criminal solely due to different political views with the ruling regime. Additionally, she stressed that convicts on probation are still considered convicts until the probation ends, even if they are not serving time in a correctional facility. This provision was reinforced in the Constitutional Court Decision No. 132/PHP.BUP/2021 on the 2024 Boven Digoel regent election.
Complicated Name Change
The evidentiary hearing also mentioned regent candidate 1 Roni Imran. The Petitioners presented another expert, Gajah Mada University law lecturer Yance Arizona. He explained that in the case of name change, the candidate should submit a certification issued by the court. Should it not be submitted, the candidate is deemed to have failed to meet the requirement. “Should there be any difference in name between the school diploma and ID card, [the person concerned] should submit a certificate from the school or a candidate statement letter,” added Yance.
Yance argued that the school’s certificate as a basis for certifying candidates follows the KPU Decree No. 640 of 2024 and the KPU Decree No. 641 concerning the certification of candidate pairs’ serial numbers. However, the school principal’s certificate for the Relevant Party was withdrawn, meaning the Relevant Party have failed to meet the requirement.
Besides, I Gusti Putu Artha, the expert for the Relevant Party Candidate Pair 1 Roni Imran-Ramdhan Mapaliey, explained that in the context of regulation, the school certificate or candidate’s statement letter had fulfilled administrative requirements as per the technical guidance. He added that the KPU decree also assesses those two documents following the stipulated indicator.
“There is an indicator used to assess the validity of the process, including to assess the validity of the school’s certificate. The name on the diploma or diploma replacement certificate should be the same that on the ID card,” Putu asserted.
Putu added that it is strictly written in the existing regulations, prompting the school to issue certificate No. 300 to meet administrative requirements. “I want to stress that the regulations stipulate it, which is why the school ultimately issued the letter No. 300,” he explained.
Validity of Academic Documents
Meanwhile, the Gorontalo Regency KPU presented two witnesses at the hearing. They were presented to enforce Roni Imran’s validity of the academic documents. One of them is Sakina Adam, a teacher at SMA (senior high school) Prasetya, who testified to Roni Imran’s education. She admitted that Roni Imran was a student at her school.
“Roni Imran enrolled at Prasetya High School in 1983 and was officially registered as a student at that time. He completed his studies in the science program and graduated in 1986. During Roni Imran’s first year, I taught national education history and taught him twice—in the first and second year,” revealed Sakina.
Also read:
Thariq Modanggu-Nurjana Hasan Yusuf Demand Disqualification of Two Candidate Pairs
KPU: Ridwan Yasin Eligible Based on North Gorontalo Bawaslu’s Recommendation
Candidate Pair 2 Thariq Modanggu and Nurjana Hasan Yusuf (Petitioners) filed a petition for the annulment of the North Gorontalo Regency KPU Decree No. 1081 of 2024 concerning the certification of recapitulation of vote counting results for the 2024 North Gorontalo regent election, dated December 4, 2024. The Petitioners argued that there had been structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations in the implementation of the 2024 North Gorontalo regent election.
The Petitioners stated that structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations had directly damaged the integrity of the election because the election organizer (North Gorontalo Regency KPU or Respondent) had allowed ineligible individuals to run for office. The Petitioners argued that Regent Candidate 3 Ridwan Yasin was a convict. Meanwhile, Candidate Pair 1 Roni Imran allegedly does not have a senior high school diploma.
Author : Utami Argawati/L.A.P.
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Tiara Agustina
Translator : Syifa Amelia/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.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | 12:52 WIB 249