The Petitioners' legal counsels attending the ruling hearing for Case No. 168/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Palopo mayoral election results dispute, Monday (2/24/2025). Photo by MKRI/Panji
JAKARTA (MKRI) — On Monday, February 24, 2025, the Constitutional Court (MK) partially granted the petition on the 2024 Palopo mayoral election results dispute filed by Candidate Pair 2 Farid Kasim–Nurhaenih (Petitioners). The Court instructed the Palopo Elections Commission (KPU) to conduct a revote without the participation of Trisal Tahir, upon discovering his lack of high school diploma.
"[The Court adjudicated], declares the disqualification of the mayor candidate of Candidate Pair 2 [Trisal Tahir] from the participation in the 2024 Palopo mayor-vice mayor election," Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated while delivering the verdict alongside the other eight constitutional justices.
Delivering the legal consideration, Constitutional Justice Ridwan Mansyur explained that the Court considered one of the educational requirements for regional head candidates as provisioned in Article 7 paragraph (2) letter c of Regional Election Law. The document which must be submitted includes a copy of the most recent diploma, of at least a high school or equivalent, that is legalized by an authorized institution as outlined in Article 45 paragraph (2) letter d of the Law.
Trisal Tahir, a regent candidate, had initially submitted a legalized copy of a GED diploma issued by the Uswatun Hasanah or Yusha Community Learning Activity Center (PKBM) on Academic Year 2015/2016. During the document verification stage, the Palopo City Elections Commission (KPU) as the Respondent found a peculiarity and doubted the validity of said diploma.
The incident snowballed to a series of events questioning the authenticity of Trisal's diploma. The Petitioners' petition, the Respondent's response, as well as the statements and the evidence presented at the hearing revealed that there were attempts to clarify and verify its validity. The parties convened at the hearing include Headmaster of the Uswatun Hasanah PKBM, Head of the North Jakarta Region II Education Office, Acting Head of the Jakarta Education Office, as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.
"In general, the statements delivered by the parties led to a conclusion that the GED diploma from the Uswatun Hasanah PKBM under the name of Trisal Tahir could not be validated convincingly," Justice Ridwan stated.
The Court examined the letter issued on September 10, 2024 by the North Jakarta Region II Education Office stating the format of Trisal's document differed from the diploma for the Yusha PKBM on Academic Year 2015/2016. Discrepancies were also found in the signatory—the Yusha PKBM instead of the Region II Education Office, the exam participant number —007 instead of 062, and the exam organizer—the Yusha PKBM instead of the Region II Education Office. Trisal's name was also not found in the digitized archive. However, Principal of the Yusha PKBM, Bonar Johnson defended Trisal through a letter dated September 13, 2024, taking responsibility for the misprints and promising to rectify the errors.
The Court also inspected the statement from Bonar Johnson, who testified as a witness for the Relevant Party on the evidentiary hearing on February 7, 2025. Then, Bonar explained that diploma forms are provided by the Education Office to the school, who fill out the forms by hand and return them to be certified by the Education Office. Yet, Bonar's a quo testimony contradicted the statements of Acting Head of the Jakarta Education Office and the North Jakarta Region II Education Office, who reported that diploma forms are filled out by a team tasked by the education office.
Trisal's name was nowhere to be found in the list of 50 exam participations registered by the PKBM to the North Jakarta Region II Education Office. Moreover, the list of the national examination participants containing Trisal presented by Bonar Johnson did not match the list issued by the office. Hence, the Court is not convinced by the evidence shown by Bonar.
"The Court concludes that the GED diploma submitted by a mayor candidate named Trisal Tahir to fulfill the education requirement of at least high school or equivalent could not be convincingly evidenced to have been issued by the relevant and authorized institutions, in casu, the North Jakarta Region II Education Office in relation to the Uswatun Hasanah PKBM where Trisal Tahir reported to take the GED education," Justice Ridwan elaborated.
The Court also found a problem when Trisal Tahir's candidacy status was very shortly fulfilled through a Palopo Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body) decree on September 21, 2024 and the candidate pair certification issued by the Palopo KPU on September 22, 2024. The dispute resolution required the Palopo KPU to seek clarification from the nominating parties, the candidates, and the relevant school at the latest 1x24 hours after the agreement was made. Later, Trisal Tahir made a statement about his diploma and promised to take responsibility over the authenticity and abide by the resolution.
Regardless of the mediation's intent to find a solution, the problem was never completely unraveled until it was eventually resolved before the Court. The Court emphasizes the importance of honesty that begins from filing applications to participate in the election.
"The problem in providing the proof of education of at least high school or equivalent through a diploma legalized by the authorized institution is not a trivial matter. It reflects the election principle of honesty. Thus, it is a violation of the honesty principle when someone having the right to be elected runs in the election but can not prove the authenticity of the documents to meet his requirements as an election participant," Justice Ridwan emphasized.
Thus, Trisal Tahir as a candidate must be declared to not meet the requirements to participate in the mayoral election. The Court believes his participation must be declared null and void and as a result, the Respondent must conduct a revote with the participation of the remaining candidate pairs—Putri Dakka and Haidir Basir, Farid Kasim and Nurhaenih, Rahmat Masri Bandaso and Andi Tenri Karta—and a new candidate pair excluding Trisal Tahir if the political party or a coalition of political party who endorsed him wishes to nominate or register another pair.
The Palopo City KPU must also facilitate all of the mayor candidate pairs to introduce themselves and announce their visions and missions to the public, either by campaign or any other means. A revote must be carried out within 90 days of the pronouncement of the ruling and its results must be subsequently certified and announced in accordance with the laws and regulations without needing to report to the Court. The Central KPU (General Elections Commission), the Central Bawaslu, and the South Sulawesi KPU and Bawaslu are instructed to supervise the revote.
Also read:
Doubt Cast on Palopo Elected Mayor’s Diploma
Chronology of Administrative Requirement Changes for Palopo Mayor Candidate
Court Challenges Trisal Tahir’s Diploma in the Palopo Election Dispute
The Palopo Mayor Candidate Pair 2 Farid Kasim and Nurhaenih questioned the validity and authenticity of the diploma presented by Mayor Candidate 4 Trisal Tahir. Upon verification, the Petitioners found the diploma certificate different to that of PKBM Yusha in the 2015/2016 academic year. In addition, there is no record of Trisal’s name in the institution’s archives from the same academic year. As a result, the North Jakarta Region II Education Office has no record of Trisal’s diploma. In September 2024, the Palopo KPU released a statement declaring Trisal’s documents invalid.
However, Trisal Tahir’s legal counsel filed a dispute claim on the KPU’s decision, which stated that candidate pair 04 did not meet administrative requirements. The Respondent finally issued an official statement declaring Trisal Tahir’s candidacy valid on the ground that a decree was issued by the Palopo City Bawaslu.
In the petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to: 1) annul the Palopo City KPU Decree No. 620 of 2024 on the certification of the Palopo election results dated December 5, 2024; and 2) declare the disqualification of Candidate Pair 4 Trisal Tahir and Akhmad Sarifuddin in the mayoral election. Alternatively, the Petitioners wish the Court would order the Palopo City KPU to hold a revote by excluding the Candidate Pair 4 Trisal Tahir and Akhmad Syarifuddin.
Author : Mimi Kartika
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator : M. Hafidh Al Mukmin/FS
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.
Monday, February 24, 2025 | 22:38 WIB 479