The witnesses taking oath at the third hearing for case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Talaud Island regent election results dispute, Thursday (5/8/2025). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the third hearing for case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Talaud Island regent election results dispute on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Chief Justice Suhartoyo (chair) sat on the session alongside Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah.
The Court heard the testimonies of witnesses and experts for the Petitioners, the Respondent, and the Relevant Party. Candidate pair number 2 Irwan Hasan-Haroni Mamentiwalo as Petitioners presented Djohan Parangka and Abner Umbeang as witnesses as well as Zainal Arifin Mochtar and Ilham Saputra as experts. Meanwhile, the Talaud Island Regency Elections Commission (KPU) as Respondent presented Alten Pianseet Banera and Olgha Theresia Banua. Lastly, candidate pair number 3 Welly Titah and Anisya Gretsya Bambungan as Relevant Party presented Jhon Tatura, Theresia Katiho, and Juani Potolau.
Diploma Confirmation Certificate
The Petitioners’ expert Ilham Saputra said that regional head candidates must meet the stipulated requirements, including equal treatment in verification as stipulated in the KPU regulation that applies during the election selection period. The lowest education requirement for the candidates is senior high school or equivalent, with a signed legalized photocopy of the original being submitted. To ensure this, the KPU will confirm with the relevant institutions. In the event of a lost or destroyed diploma, the candidate in question may inform the education ministry or office to be issued a diploma confirmation certificate.
“It should have been done by the candidate, and this (certificate) can be used and is recognized. What the Talaud Islands KPU did careless and unprofessional. Verification should have been done to the institution above it because this is related to a person’s rights and the conditions must be met,” Ilham stressed.
Requirements to Run in Election
Zainal Arifin Mochtar as the Petitioners’ expert said educational requirement is important for public office. Integrity is another important requirement, which can be seen from the candidates’ SKCK (police clearance certificate) and similar certificates. Mental and intellectual capabilities as well as approval rating are also important for public office.
The Law has expressly regulated that regional head candidates have at least graduated high school/equivalent, as evidenced by a school diploma. Ownership of the diploma should be verified. The Constitutional Court has ruled several times that it could not conclude whether the diploma had been falsified or not, but it built arguments.
“There was no sufficient or convincing evidence, so to uphold justice, the candidates were declared ineligible, because the documents submitted were materially legally flawed, because they could not be used as a substitute for issuing SKPI (diploma confirmation certificate) or a letter considered equivalent to a diploma,” Zainal explained remotely.
CSAT
Meanwhile, Djohan Parangka, a witness presented by the Petitioners, revealed that as an alumnus of SMA Negeri Beo in 1984, he never found Welly Titah taking the Ebtanas final exams, equivalent to CSAT, at the school. “I know this because for the Ebtanas exams, students at private high schools must take the exam at public high schools. There was also a custom in the Talaud Islands, social status was very clear, because Welly Titah had rich parents, it was easy to tell him apart. In addition, on April 12, 2024, Welly made a press conference in Talaud that he had attended SMA Swasta Lirung (private high school), and also took the exams in Lirung, but got his diploma from SMA Negeri Beo (public high school),” Parangka said.
Abner Umbeang, who attended Lirung private high school from 1981-1984, corroborated this. “I went to school there. The building was small and there were only three classrooms. I never saw Welly during semester exams and [teaching and learning activities] at that time,” Abner said.
Teacher’s and Classmate’s Testimonies
Meanwhile, the Relevant Party presented Jhon Tatura, a teacher at SMP Lirung (junior high school) who was asked to teach at Lirung private high school in 1981-1984. He confirmed that Welly was a student he taught at Lirung private high school. “At the time, Welly was in [eleventh] grade. He majored in science, and I taught chemistry and physics. I met him when he was in [eleventh] grade and when he was in [twelfth] grade he took the exams until the end,” he explained.
Welly Titah’s classmate Theresia Katiho revealed taking Ebta/Ebtanas exams at SMAN 1 Beo. “Mr. Welly went to Lirung [high school] since [eleventh] grade, but [I] went to Lirung private high school. I was in the same [graduating class] as Welly. The copy of his diploma looks identical to mine. Welly’s [tenth] grade was spent at Eben Haezar, Manado, after which [he] transferred to Lirung private high school until [twelfth] grade,” she explained.
Legalized Diploma Copy
The KPU as Respondent presented Olgha Theresia Banua, head of the administrative department of SMAN Beo, as a witness. She revealed that on September 2, 2024, the KPU asked the school to clarify the legalized photocopy of the candidates’ diplomas. She then took out the diploma registry, including one for Welly Titah.
“I took from the school archive a diploma registry with a stamp dating 1984 and the original diploma receipt registry of 1984. After comparing them with the KPU’s diploma [photocopy], the validity could be accounted for,” she said.
She also explained that the diploma legalizing mechanism had run since she started working at the school in 1996. “We did not compare [the photocopy] with the original diploma, only with the document presented [by the KPU]. Welly’s [diploma] does not have a registry in this school because he went to Lirung private high school,” Banua revealed.
Clarification and Verification
Next, Junilson Saghoa, the KPU member tasked with verifying the diploma with SMAN 1 Beo, recounted his effort to verify the diploma. “We received the document from the candidate pair and we brought it for verification with data in the schools, that is, the diploma uploaded on the KPU’s Silon [application] with the school’s archive, which has the student’s name, the number of the diploma, the official signing the diploma, and the diploma’s issuance date. The reference used to verify at the school was a diploma registry. We then brought the diploma downloaded off of Silon (legalized photocopy),” he revealed.
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At the preliminary hearing on Friday, April 25, candidate pair number 2 Irwan Hasan-Haroni Mamentiwalo (Petitioners) alleged that 2024 Talaud Island regent candidate number 3 Welly Titah does not have the minimum requirement of senior high school diploma or equivalent, which is stipulated under Article 7 paragraph (2) jo. Article 45 paragraph (2) letter d point 1 of Law No. 10 of 2016 on Regional Elections (Pilkada Law) jo. Article 14 paragraph (2) letter c jo. Article 20 paragraph (2) letter d point 1 of the General Elections Commission Regulation (PKPU) No. 8 of 2024.
The Petitioners alleged that the regent candidate had finished the twelfth grade in 1984 at the private SMA Lirung and the tenth to eleventh grade in 1982-1983 at SMA Eben Haezer Manado. However, his last diploma in 1984 was issued by SMAN 1 Beo. The Petitioner’s campaign team found that since 1982, the private SMA Lirung had become the public SMAN Lirung. Therefore, Handri continued, the regent candidate’s claim that he had gone to private SMA Lirung for his twelfth grade in 1984 at the private SMA Lirung is not true.
The Petitioners also alleged that regent candidate number 3 had practiced vote buying in Bulude and South Bulude Villages. The candidate had made a donation through his family to the Evangelical Church of Talaud (GERMITA) for the Bulude Nazari congregation amounting to Rp250 million. Handri said that such unusual move could certainly aimed at influencing voters.
Therefore, the Petitioners request that the Court annul and declare null and void the Talaud Island Regency KPU Decree No. 24 of 2025 on the stipulation of the 2024 Talaud Island regent election results following Constitutional Court Decision No. 51/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 issued on April 11, 2025; to disqualify candidate pair number 3 Welly Titah and Anisya Gretsya Bambungan from the 2024 Talaud Island regent election; and to certify candidate pair number 2 Irwan Hasan and Haroni Mamentiwalo the winner of the 2024 Talaud Island regent election.
Also read:
Civil Servants’ WhatsApp Group Sparks Talaud Island Election Dispute
Civil Apparatus’ Involvement in Talaud Islands Election Highlighted
Talaud Islands Election Faces Scrutiny Over TSM Violations
Vote Buying Proven, Court Orders a Revote in Essang District, Talaud Islands Regency
Petition for Case No. 317/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025
Respondent’s response
Statement by Relevant Party
Statement by Bawaslu
Author : Sri Pujianti
Editor : N. Rosi
PR : Fauzan F.
Translator : 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.
Thursday, May 08, 2025 | 17:51 WIB 262