Legal counsel Muhammad Yunus delivering the Relevant Party’s statement at the second hearing for case No. 325/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Pesawaran regent election results dispute, Friday (6/20/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — Pesawaran regent-vice regent candidates number 2 Nanda Indira-Antonius M. Ali, or the Relevant Party in case No. 325/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, denies the allegation that they had used the DPR/MPR (House of Representatives/People’s Consultative Assembly) aspiration funds and the Lampung Provincial DRPD (Regional Legislative Council) recess funds for the Pesawaran regent election. They firmly denied any involvement in the misuse of state or regional resources for political contestation purposes.
“The Relevant Party categorically denies the allegations, as the event in question did not involve any campaign activities or any effort to persuade participants to vote for the Relevant Party,” said Muhammad Yunus, legal counsel for the Relevant Party, at the hearing on Friday, June 20, 2025. The session was held to hear the response by the General Elections Commission (KPU) of Pesawaran Regency as Respondent, the Relevant Party’s statement, and the Statement of Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body).
The event in question is the distribution of agricultural machinery and equipment in Purworejo Village, Negeri Katon District, Pesawaran Regency on May 6, 2025 for four farmers’ groups associations—Arjuna Jaya from Purworejo Village, Cinta Karya from Lumbir Rejo Village, Sumber Kehidupan from Bangun Sari Village, and Sido Muncul from Halangan Ratu Village. The Petitioners—candidate pair number 1 Supriyanto-Suriansyah Rhalieb—alleged that government aid of 6-inch water pumps and 10 units of hand sprayer had been distributed through the proposed electoral district development program (UP2DP), or more commonly known as aspiration funds, provided by Gerindra Party MPR member Ahmad Muzani, for the Relevant Party.
The Relevant Party explained that the distribution of agricultural machinery and equipment in question was an official, state-funded program that had been scheduled well in advance and bore no relation to the Pesawaran regent election revote. Furthermore, the Pesawaran Regency Bawaslu had neither found nor recommended to any competent authority that a violation had occurred as alleged by the Petitioners.
Additionally, the Relevant Party refuted the Petitioners’ claim that envelopes containing money had been distributed to residents of Kubu Batu Village of Way Khilau District through a recess program by Lampung Provincial DPRD member Elly Wahyuni. They explained that the event was not part of a recess, as claimed by the Petitioners, but a regular meeting between a DPRD member and her constituents in the context of maintaining relations. During the event, there was no distribution of money intended to influence voters to support the Relevant Party, nor were there any campaign materials or symbols associated with the Relevant Party.
Moreover, in the petition, the Petitioners have failed to demonstrate that a formal report had been filed with Bawaslu regarding the alleged violations at these events. The Relevant Party argued that the Petitioners’ claims relied solely on media reports and were arbitrarily interpreted as evidence of violations.
Meanwhile, the Pesawaran Regency Bawaslu conveyed that the Pesawaran Regency Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumdu) had concluded that the report concerning the alleged distribution of agricultural machinery and equipment by candidate pair number 2 did not occur during campaign period and therefore did not meet the material requirements for registration. The Center determined that the report lacked sufficient legal grounds to be categorized as an election crime.
No Discrepancies
The Pesawaran Regency KPU as Respondent also asserted that there were no discrepancies or shifts in vote counts between the Petitioners and the Relevant Party, based on official data from the D-result forms. They argued that none of the Petitioners’ arguments presented any comparative data regarding miscounted votes across polling station, district, or regency levels.
“Throughout the implementation of the revote in Pesawaran Regency, there have been no findings, recommendations, or decisions from either the Lampung Provincial Bawaslu or Pesawaran Regency Bawaslu regarding the alleged violations,” explained Ridhotul Hairi, legal counsel for the Respondent, before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2.
The results of revote organized by the Pesawaran Regency Elections Commission (KPU) on May 24, which was mandated by the Constitutional Court in Decision No. 20/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, show that Supriyanto-Suriansyah (Petitioners) earned 88,482 votes, while Nanda Indira-Antonius M. Ali (Relevant Party) won 128,715.
In their petitums, the Petitioners appealed to the Court to annul the Pesawaran Regency KPU Decree No. 625 of 2025 on the certification of the results of the 2024 Pesawaran regent election revote, taking place on May 27 following the Constitutional Court decision concerning the vote acquisition of candidate pair number 2 Nanda Indira-Antonius M. Ali (Relevant Party). They also asked that candidate pair number 2 be disqualified and that the Court certify candidate pair number 1 Supriyanto-Suriansyah Rhalieb as the elected Pesawaran regent-vice regent.
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In Decision No. 20/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, the Court ordered the Pesawaran Regency KPU to carry out a revote as regent candidate number 1 H. Aries Sandi Darma Putra had failed to meet the mandatory requirement of a high school diploma or its equivalent to run for regent. The Court was convinced that he had never completed his third year of senior high school, whether at SMA (Senior High School) Arjuna or any other equivalent institution. his conclusion was based on evidence showing that he only completed his first and second years of education, as indicated by his Semester 1 to 4 grades recorded in the student registry.
Aries had run in the election alongside vice-regent candidate Supriyanto in the initial election. Vice-regent candidate Supriyanto then ran alongside regent candidate Suriansyah Rhalieb.
Author : Mimi Kartika
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Fauzan Febriyan
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.
Friday, June 20, 2025 | 15:18 WIB 270