Margarito Kamis testifying as an expert for the Relevant Party at an evidentiary hearing for Case No. 24/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Empat Lawang regent election results dispute, Wednesday (2/12/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – An evidentiary hearing on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 for Case No. 24/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Empat Lawang regent election results dispute mainly discussed the regent’s office term calculation. Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah presided over the hearing on panel 1.

The Petitioners are Candidate Pair Budi Antoni Al Jufri and Henny Verawati. The Respondent is the Empat Lawang Regency KPU (Elections Commission), while elected Candidate Pair Joncik Muhammad-Arifai is the Relevant Party.

The debate at this hearing started with the question of the temporary dismissal of regent candidate Budi Antoni Al Jufri, who served as Empat Lawang regent from 2008 to 2013 and was re-elected for the 2013-2018 term.

He did not complete his full second term due to a legal case he was implicated in. The key issue lies in determining the length of his office term. If it was less than half—specifically, under 2.5 years—it would not be considered a full term. However, if he served more than 2.5 years, it would be counted as a complete term.

The above statement was made by Yance Arizona, an expert presented by the Petitioners at the hearing. He said that in Decisions No. 22/PUU-VII/2009, No. 67/PUU-XVIII/2020, and No. 2/PUU-XXI-2023, the Constitutional Court held that one’s term of office as a temporary and definitive official should not be differentiated.

“Following the Constitutional Court decisions, the term of office served is determined based on whether the individual holds the position definitively or temporarily. Serving temporarily refers to acting as an interim official,” Yance said.

However, the issue turned into a more complex due to the temporary suspension of Budi Antoni Al Jufri. This suspension started when he was entangled in a legal case until his permanent dismissal once the verdict in his criminal case was final and legally binding.

The expert for the Respondent, Oce Madril, stated that an official’s dismissal can occur for three reasons: voluntary resignation, legal grounds, or unforeseen circumstances such as death. He referenced Article 78 of Law No. 23 of 2014 on the Regional Government. He classified Budi Antoni’s dismissal as one based on legal grounds. Meanwhile, the period of temporary suspension, during which the official is inactive, is still counted as part of the term of office until a permanent dismissal.

“To calculate it, the term of office must not be longer than from the time one is appointed until it ends within the normal time,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, the expert for the Relevant Party, Margarito Kamis, believed that it did not change the official’s status. He argued that Budi had remained a regent despite being temporarily dismissed, only that his duties and authorities were executed by the acting regent.

“The regent who was sentenced in prison was still a regent, [he was] just inactive. Thus, his duties were executed by the vice regent, as it was an individual position,” he asserted.

Decree by Minister of Home Affairs

Syahril Hanafiah was presented as a witness for the Respondent. He served as the vice regent of Empat Lawang for the 2013-2018 period alongside Budi. He read out several decrees issued by the Minister of Home Affairs concerning the temporary and permanent dismissal of Budi Antoni Al Jufri.

The temporary dismissal was based on the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs No. 131.16-25778, issued on October 22, 2015, which stated: First, temporarily dismiss Budi Antoni Al Jufri from his position as regent of Empat Lawang for the 2013-2018 term until the legal process in question is completed and has permanent legal force.

Second, appoint Haji Syahril Hanafiah, vice regent of Empat Lawang for the 2013-2018 term, to carry out the duties and authorities of the regent of Empat Lawang.

Meanwhile, the permanent dismissal was carried out based on the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs No. 131.16-25778 5413 of 2016, which was issued and applied on June 29, 2016. Syahril also ensured that Budi Antoni would not return to the Empat Lawang Government since the temporary dismissal decree was issued.

“So, since you replaced [Budi] since October 22, 2015 until his term of office ended, the regent never came back?” asked Chief Justice Suhartoyo.

“No,” Syahril replied.

However, a witness for the Petitioners stated that Syahril had served as acting regent following Budi’s temporary dismissal on October 22, 2015. He argued that during this period, Syahril had signed several regional regulations, including those related to the regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD).

“Acting regent Syahril Hanafiah had exercised Budi’s authority as regent, including signing the 2015 regional regulation of the APBD,” revealed Legiyo, who was also a former head of the General Affairs and Apparatus of Empat Lawang Regency secretariat.

Facilities and Financial Rights

As regional heads, regent and vice regent received their respective rights, including official residence, financial rights, and other facilities. Thus, Syahril Hanafiah ensured that he had received his rights from October 22, 2015 to June 29, 2016. Meanwhile, Budi remained on payroll until January 1, 2017.

“[The regent] remained on payroll until January 1, 2017, Your Honors. I kept using the vice regent official residence and working space,” Syahril replied.

Dispute in Regency Bawaslu and PTUN

This dispute was resolved by the Empat Lawang Regency Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body). A member of Empat Lawang Bawaslu Ahmad Fatria Arsasi revealed that the certification of the Empat Lawang regent-vice regent candidate pairs had been solved by Bawaslu and the complaint was rejected.

The decree had followed Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Regional Government and the KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024. Bawaslu had also considered expert and witness testimonies.

“[The legal consideration] convinced Bawaslu to reject, as the legally-binding [court decision], decree of dismissal, and vice regent inauguration as definitive regent were all more than 2.5 years or more than 30 months,” Fatria revealed.

In addition, the State Administrative Court dismissed the dispute petition as it had a different object from the complaint lodged to Bawaslu.

“The object of dispute lodged to Bawaslu was related to the report of the KPU decree, while in the State Administrative Court it was the [KPU] certification decree. It means there were two different objects, that is why the State Administrative Court dismissed it,” he stressed.

Also read:

Empat Lawang Election Dispute Focuses on Term Length Issue

Length of Office Term Questioned in Empat Lawang Regency Election Dispute

In the preliminary hearing on January 9, 2025, the Petitioners argued that Budi Antoni Al Jufri’s office term as Empat Lawang regent was 2 years, 1 month, and 27 days. Therefore, they requested the Court to declare their candidacy in Empat Lawang regent-vice regent election and to annul the decree of Empat Lawang KPU on the certification of the 2024 Empat Lawang regent-vice regent election results.

Meanwhile, the Respondent argued that the second term of office should have been calculated since the inauguration on August 26, 2013 until a decision with permanent legal force on the Petitioners, on May 3, 2016. Thus, Budi’s term should have been counted as 2 years, 8 months, and 7 days, or one full term.

Also read:

Petition for Case No. 24/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025
Response by the Respondent
Statement by Bawaslu
Statement by the Relevant Party

Author              : Ashri Fadilla
Editor               : N. Rosi
PR                    : Fauzan F.
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.

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