Titi Anggraini testifying as an expert for the Respondent for case No. 04/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Central Buton regent election results dispute, Monday (2/17/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — On Monday, February 17, 2025, the Constitutional Court (MK) held an evidentiary hearing for case No. 04/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Central Buton regent election results dispute. Chief Justice Suhartoyo presided over the evidentiary hearing alongside Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah in panel 1 courtroom. They examined witnesses and experts. Regent-vice regent candidate pair 2 La Andi and Abidin presented two witnesses and two experts at the hearing.

The Central Buton Regency KPU (Elections Commission) is the Respondent, while the regent-vice regent candidate pair 1 Azhari and Muhammad Adam Basan are the Relevant Party. Both the Respondent and the Relevant Party presented three witnesses and one expert each.

The hearing addressed Azhari’s resignation as a civil servant lecturer, as outlined in the Petitioners’ petition. The Petitioners’ expert Khairul Fahmi asserted that the resignation statement should originate from the Ministry’s Human Resources (HR) bureau, not the university leadership.

“If [the letter] was issued by the university leadership rather than the HR Bureau, its authenticity and validity would depend on whether the HR bureau delegated that authority,” Khairul asserted.

If such a delegation did not occur, Khairul argued that the university leadership was unauthorized to issue the statement. He further suggested that if the resignation statement did not meet the requirements, Azhari’s candidacy could be annulled by the Court.

“Given the violation where an ineligible regent candidate was certified due to documents issued by an unauthorized official, the Court has legal grounds to disqualify the candidate in question,” Khairul explained.

Regarding requirements for ASN running for regional head election, the Relevant Party’s expert Abhan cited Article 7 of the Regional Election Law and the KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024, which states that candidates must submit a resignation letter and a letter acknowledging its receipt.

Abhan explained that no regulation requires candidates to submit a resignation letter or a termination decree before the election. “Civil servant candidates must submit an ASN resignation letter, proof of receipt, and a statement from the authorized official confirming that the resignation is being processed,” Abhan added.

Azhari’s Civil Servant Status

Petitioners’ witness Muh Saleh Ganiru testified that the Relevant Party’s ASN status was active as of September 21, 2024. However, the Central Buton Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) had issued a report on September 14, 2024, stating that the submitted documents were complete and met all requirements.

On October 31, 2024, Azhari’s termination decree as a civil servant was issued. Saleh noted that the statement letter was revised on November 15, signed by the Sembilan Belas November University of Kolaka, where Azhari had worked.

“However, on [November] 15, the signed letter was submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education, and a new statement signed by the Minister of Higher Education was also issued on the same day,” explained Saleh, the Petitioners’ legal counsel.

Azhari’s termination as a civil servant was verified at the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) on November 22, 2024. “On November 22, the termination status for the said person was verified in the BKN’s civil servant information system SIASN,” he stated.

Migrants in Final Voters List

The Petitioners’ witness alleged administrative violations at several polling stations (TPS) in Central Buton, specifically concerning migrants in the final voters list (DPT) who obtained resident ID cards from outside Southwest Sulawesi.

“At TPS 4 in Boneoge Village, voters La Insele and Wa Alumiya were not allowed to vote as they possessed Papua resident IDs, and were registered as voters in Papua,” stated the Petitioners’ witness Muh Saleh Ganiru.

The Respondent’s witness Wa Ode Rusviati, a member of polling station working committee (KPPS) 04, testified that the voters in question did indeed have Papua resident IDs. However, Rusviati confirmed that both were registered at TPS 4 (polling station) in Boneoge Village, as demonstrated by the C-notification forms (voting invitations) they presented at the polling station.

Rusviati stated that both voters possessed Central Buton family cards, which the KPPS used to verify their information against the final voter list. Rusviati added that they had presented copies of their resident IDs, explaining that they had lost the original since the verification process.

“I recorded their data at their house, [and] they explained they had lost their resident IDs and were in process to replace [them]. I verified their family card, and [the information] matched,” Rusviati stated.

The Relevant Party witness Sofri, who coordinated witnesses in Boneoge Village, testified that the Petitioners’ mandated witness did not raise any objections during the voting.

Sofri also stated that two voters questioned by the Petitioners were Boneage residents who had voted in the presidential election at TPS 09 of Boneage instead of TPS 04.

“In the legislative and presidential election, [they] voted at TPS 09 Boneoge,” Sofri said.

Intimidation against Bawaslu

Central Buton Bawaslu chairman Helius Udaya testified that intimidation had occurred during the election, starting with a riot at the district elections supervisory committee (Panwascam). The riot was in response to the Petitioners’ report on alleged violations at three polling stations, which was not further investigated as it did not meet material requirements.

“Later, on [December] 3, at 10 am, a protest occurred at the Panwascam office, resulting in the destruction of facilities, including computers, despite the office being only 200 meters from a police station,” stated Helius.

An hour later, the protesters moved to the Central Buton Bawaslu office. Helius stated that he had explained the reasons the protesters’ report was not investigated further, but this explanation was unsatisfactory to them, who then remained at the office until midnight.

At 1 am on December 4, 2024, Helius met with the protesters to discuss their demands. The protesters insisted that the Central Buton Bawaslu issue recommendations regarding TPS 1, 2, and 3 in Madongka Village, Lakudo District, but were inconclusive. The protesters then threw stones at the Bawaslu office, prompting Helius to change the status of the report.

“Given the dire situation and my instinct for survival, I called my staff managing violations and ordered them to change the status report to meet the formal and material requirements,” explained Helius.

The report was subsequently registered and delegated to the Lakudo Panwascam for follow-up.

“What was the follow-up by Lakudo Panwascam?” questioned Chief Justice Suhartoyo.

“No violations were found, and no recommendations were issued,” responded Helius.

The testimony from the parties concluded the hearing, which will be followed by a ruling hearing on February 24, 2025. The parties will be notified by the Court to attend the subsequent hearing.

Also read:

Petitioners Take Issue with Central Buton KPU’s Partiality

Eligibility of Central Buton Regent Candidate as Civil Servant Lecturer Questioned

At the preliminary examination hearing on Tuesday, January 14, 2024, the Petitioners alleged the negligence of the organizers, including voting by unauthorized individuals. They also requested the Relevant Party be disqualified considering their status as a civil servant (PNS) lecturer.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested that the Court annul the Central Buton KPU decree on the certification of the Central Buton regent election results, disqualify the Relevant Party, and order the Central Buton KPU to conduct a revote.

Also read:

Petition for Case No. 04/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025

Respondent’s Response

Bawaslu’s Statement

Relevant Party’s Statement

Author            : Ashri Fadilla
Editor             : N. Rosi
PR                 : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator      : Ryan Alfian/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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