Experts’ View On LHKPN Requirements for Mandailing Natal Regent Candidate

Aswanto as the expert for the Relevant Party testifying at the evidentiary hearing for Case No. 32/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 concerning the Mandailing Natal regent election results dispute. Photo by MKRI/Ifa

JAKARTA (MKRI) – An evidentiary hearing was held on Thursday, February 13, 2025, for Case No. 32/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 regarding the dispute over the 2024 Mandailing Natal regent election results. The case, filed by Candidate Pair Number 1, Harun Mustafa Nasution and M. Ichwan Husein, included witness and expert testimonies, as well as the approval of additional evidence.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair), Constitutional Justice Foekh, and M. Guntur Hamzah presided over the evidentiary hearing on panel 1. The Petitioners presented Saut Sitomorang and Titi Anggraini as the experts, and Arsidin Batubara and Zuhri Musthafa Nasution as witnesses. Meanwhile, I Gde Pantja Astawa, Aswanto, and Zainal Arifin as the experts for the Relevant Party (Candidate Pair 2 Saipullah Nasution-Atika Azmi Utammi) and Romiansah as the witness. The Maindailing Natal KPU (Elections Commission) also presented Hasyim Asy’ari as an expert.

In his statement, Saut Sitomorang emphasized that the LHKPN (State Officials' Wealth Report) serves a philosophical purpose, reflecting the obligation of state officials to uphold transparency, accountability, and impartiality in order to support the principles of corruption eradication. He highlighted that corruption can take many forms, including the late submission of the LHKPN. Therefore, the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) adheres to core values such as honesty, discipline, responsibility, vigilance, independence, hard work, modesty, courage, and fairness. A violation of any of these principles is considered an act of corruption.

“Here, the principle of compliance is an essential part of eradicating corruption because state officials’ governance plays an important role in creating good governance. The nomination process is connected to the LHKPN, as it serves as a means of integrating accountability for the responsibilities that will be undertaken by the candidates. Therefore, the KPU circular letter is easy to implement and can be further pursued by relevant parties. LHKPN is more than just an administrative requirement,” explained Saut.

Valid Information

Titi Anggraini mentioned the candidates’ wealth requirements as stipulated in Article 7 Paragraph (2) letter j of Law 10/2016 and referred to the dynamic and not static nature of wealth. Candidates’ transparency in providing valid and comprehensive information is essential to check and assess candidates’ track records.

"Therefore, the participation of unqualified candidates makes the voters' votes worthless and wasted. Allowing them to participate in the election is an illegal and unconstitutional act that can be classified as a subversive act against honest, fair, and legally certain democratic elections. Thus, the Constitutional Court must take firm action to disqualify candidate pairs who are proven not to meet the candidate requirements," explained Titi.

Periodic Report

Candidate Pair 1’s chair of the campaign team, Zuhri Musthafa Nasution testified that on November 10, 2024, there was an evaluation meeting in which as a result, several regional heads had not fulfilled their LHKPN. The Relevant Party’s LHKPN is uninformed on the KPK website.

"Therefore, it was agreed to search at the KPK and it was found that the LHPKN for Syaifullah Nasution was registered in 2021 for customs and excise officials and this is an active account that should be reported periodically. We questioned what kind of document was submitted for the LHKPN on October 16, 2024. Only after this discovery, did we meet in Medan and agree to report this finding to Bawaslu," said Zuhri.

Bawaslu Recommendation

Arsidin Batubara stated that he reported to the Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body) on November 14, 2024, and the report was forwarded to the Mandailing Natal Bawaslu on November 16, 2024. On November 18, 2024, Arsidin came to the Bawaslu and there was a KPU recommendation.

"Bawaslu certified that Syaifullah did not/yet meet the requirements on November 22, 2024, and on November 25, 2024, the KPU responded to the recommendation but did not implement it properly, instead the KPU stated that they allowed Syaifullah to revise the documents following the KPK circular letter," said Arsidin.

No Specified Timeframe

I Gde Pantja Astawa explained that the KPK circular letter is a policy regulation rather than a statutory regulation. However, it is treated as if it has legal relevance only to the interested parties. He explained that KPU Decision 1229/2014 neither adopted nor referenced the circular letter in any way. As a result, it was only submitted on October 16, 2024, since the decision did not set any deadline. Similarly, the KPK is not bound by the registration process up to the certification of the candidate pair’s serial number.

“Therefore, if the Petitioners initially state that the Relevant Party did not submit the LHKPN, [it was done] because the Law did not mention LHKPN but the submitted personal assets list,” said Pantjaa.

Report Error Level

The Relevant Party’s expert, Zainal Arifin Mochtar asserted the importance of LHKPN, stating two fundamental concepts of the report. First, the periodic report which must be submitted by individuals who already have an account and are in office, as well as three months after leaving office as a final report. Second, a special report is requested and related to the candidate registration process. In this context, he highlighted the need for clarity regarding legal responsibility. If individuals with periodic and special reports, they are given time to revise the report.

"So, what must be considered is the error level whether it can be considered wrong, or it has already a corrective effort with equality and whether the principle of fairness is upheld. For administrative requirements, it is not rigidity, but whether any improper intention or conspiracy is committed when submitting the requirements. This is just the wrong format and [we] have enough time to revise," explained Uceng.

Before Taking Office

Aswanto explained that the LHKPN is prepared by officials as mandated by Article 5 of Law 8/2015. He highlighted an ongoing debate regarding the interpretation of "before taking office," which could mean either the period of registering as a candidate for a state official position or the time before being officially inaugurated. Registering does not necessarily mean the person will hold the position.

"It means that the obligation to report and announce their wealth is for those who are officially state officials, so they need to report it before and after serving in the LHKPN. So, those who have just registered for the [election] contest, are not yet state officials. Therefore, the KPU has certified that the person concerned has met the requirements," explained Aswanto.

KPU Review

The expert presented by the Respondent, Hasyim Asy’ari explained the implementation of a fair and equal parameter by the regency KPU for candidates. Law 8/2015 in Article 14 stipulated that regency/city KPU must fairly and equally treat every candidate. Thus, following Bawaslu's recommendation over the alleged administrative violation, KPU executed a legal review and therefore issued a decree.

“Recommendation is not always followed up as it is. Instead, the KPU reviews them and provides a response based on its assessment. This process also applies to the LHKPN guidelines for candidate pairs. KPU has acted fairly and equally toward all candidates, especially in responding to recommendations from Bawaslu,” explained Hasyim.

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Experts’ View On LHKPN Requirements for Mandailing Natal Regent Candidate