Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra, accompanied by Justices Enny Nurbaningsih and Ridwan Mansyur, presiding over the preliminary hearing of Case No. 330/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Boven Digoel Regent Election result dispute at the Constitutional Court, Tuesday (2/9/2025). Photo by MKRI/Agung.

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JAKARTA, (MKRI) – The candidate pair for Regent and Deputy Regent of Boven Digoel Regency with Number 4, Hengki Yaluwo–Melkior Okaibob, filed a petition for an election results dispute (PHPU) following the re-vote  to the Constitutional Court. The petitioners argued that the General Election Commission (KPU) of Boven Digoel Regency, as the Respondent, failed to hold an open plenary meeting to determine the candidacy of Roni Omba as Regent Candidate for Candidate Pair Number 3, replacing Petrus Ricolombus Omba, who was disqualified pursuant to Constitutional Court Decision Number 260/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025.

“The Respondent never held an open plenary meeting regarding the determination of Candidate Number 3 for Regent, Roni Omba, as required by law and in line with the principle of election transparency,” said the Petitioner’s legal counsel, Billy Marcelino Maniagasi, during the preliminary hearing of Case Number 330/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, held online on Tuesday (September 2, 2025).

According to the petitioners, the KPU only invited candidate pairs to attend a plenary meeting to determine candidate pair numbers, which was not in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s ruling. They also claimed that the Boven Digoel Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) failed to actively exercise its supervisory role.

The petitioners further pointed out that KPU Decision Number 17 of 2025 on the determination of candidate pair numbers referred to KPU Decision Number 16 of 2025 on the determination of participating pairs. However, they alleged that the KPU neither sent invitations nor provided notifications to candidate pairs to attend the plenary session for determining election participants, nor produced any official minutes documenting such a meeting. As a result, the petitioners argued that the determination of Candidate Pair Number 3, Roni Omba–Marlinus, lacked legal basis and therefore should not have been allowed to contest the revote.

 

Alleged Fake Diploma

The petitioners also raised allegations regarding the qualifications of Deputy Regent Candidate Marlinus, asserting that he failed to meet candidacy requirements due to a fake diploma and administrative irregularities. They highlighted inconsistencies in the use of the academic title Drs (Doctorandus), which appeared on Marlinus’s Identity Card  and political documents but was omitted from the candidacy documents submitted to the KPU.

The title Drs is typically awarded upon completion of a recognized bachelor’s degree (S1) in social sciences or humanities. The petitioners argued that if the title appeared on the Identity Card and party documents, it should have been supported by a valid diploma. However, when checked against the Higher Education Database (PDDIKTI), the institution listed on Marlinus’s degree could not be found. Moreover, the omission of the title in the Candidate Information System (Silon) raised further doubts about the authenticity of the diploma.

The petitioners also contended that the KPU deliberately failed to verify the validity of Marlinus’s academic credentials, while Bawaslu neglected its supervisory responsibility in overseeing candidacy documents, despite being mandated by the Court’s earlier ruling to conduct professional and thorough supervision.

Petitioner’s petition

In their petition, the Hengki–Melkior pair requested the Court to annul KPU Decision Number 67 of 2025 concerning the determination of results of the 2024 Boven Digoel Regent and Deputy Regent Election, issued as a follow-up to the Constitutional Court’s ruling of August 13, 2025, at 13:53 WIT.

They further asked the Court to declare that Candidate Pair Number 3, Roni Omba–Marlinus, did not meet candidacy requirements due to the alleged use of false documents and manipulation of candidacy data. The petitioners also requested the Court to order the Boven Digoel KPU to disqualify Candidate Pair Number 3 from all stages of the election and to hold a revote at all polling stations in Boven Digoel Regency, excluding Candidate Pair Number 3 from the list of participants.

Based on the decision of the Boven Digoel Regency KPU, Candidate Pair Number 1, Athanasius Koknak–Basri Muhammadiah, obtained 7,662 votes; Candidate Pair Number 2, Yakob Waremba–Suharto, received 2,372 votes; Candidate Pair Number 3, Roni Omba–Marlinus, garnered 12,990 votes; and Candidate Pair Number 4, Hengki Yaluwo–Melkior Okaibob, gained 6,554 votes. The petitioners noted that the vote difference between their pair and the Related Party reached 6,436 votes, a margin that far exceeded the permissible threshold for filing a PHPU petition in Boven Digoel Regency, which is set at 2 percent of the total valid votes or 599 votes. 

Also read:

Court Disqualifies Boven Digoel Regent Candidate, Orders a Revote

This case was examined by Panel II of the Constitutional Court, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and accompanied by Constitutional Justices Enny Nurbaningsih and Ridwan Mansyur. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 08:00 a.m., to be conducted online from the Constitutional Court’s courtroom, with the agenda of hearing the Respondent’s response, the statement of Bawaslu, and the statements of the Related Parties.

The Constitutional Court ordered the Boven Digoel Regency KPU to conduct a re-vote for the Regent and Deputy Regent of Boven Digoel, with the participation of Candidate Pair Number 1 Athanasius Koknak–H. Basri Muhammadiah, Candidate Pair Number 2 Yakob Weremba–Suharto, Candidate Pair Number 4 Hengki Yaluwo–Melkior Okaibob, as well as a new candidate pair nominated by political parties or coalitions of political parties that had previously supported Candidate Pair Number 3, without including Petrus Ricolombus Omba. The Court emphasized that the vacancy could not simply be filled by appointing the candidate pair with the second-highest number of votes as the elected pair, as the votes in the 2024 Boven Digoel election had been spread across four candidate pairs. The re-vote will still use the Final Voters List, Additional Voters List, and Special Voters List from the November 27, 2024 election, with adjustments to accommodate the newly proposed candidate pair.

Author       : Mimi Kartika

Editor        : N. Rosi

Translator  : Fuad Subhan

Petition Number 330/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025

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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