Chief Justice Suhartoyo while delivering the ruling on the regent election results disputes of the Boven Digoel on Wednesday (9/10/2025) at the Plenary courtroom. Photo:by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA, MKRI – The Constitutional Court dismissed petition filed by Candidate Pair Number 4, Hengky Yaluwo–Melkior Okaibob, in the Boven Digoel regent election result dispute following the re-vote. The Petitioners argued that seven voters were unlawfully rejected because they did not bring the C. Pemberitahuan-KWK notification form, even though they presented their identity cards. However, the Court found that this claim was neither explained in detail nor supported by evidence.

“Who were the seven voters who were rejected, and where were Polling Stations 06 and 07 as alleged by the Petitioners, since neither the village nor the district was specified? There is also no convincing evidence before the Court to prove that such rejection by the   polling station working committee actually occurred,” said Constitutional Justice Ridwan Mansyur when reading out the Court’s legal considerations in Decision No. 330/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on Wednesday (9/10/2025) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court, Jakarta.

Justice Ridwan further noted that Bawaslu’s supervision report at polling station 026, Persatuan Village, Mandobo District, did record voters who did not bring the C. Notification-KWK form. However, polling station working committee officers asked those voters to show their electronic ID cards for verification against the Final Voters List (DPT). Once confirmed in the DPT, the KPPS issued the C. Pemberitahuan-KWK and allowed them to vote.

A similar situation also occurred at Polling Station 013 in Persatuan Village. In practice, therefore, the polling station working committee did not prevent voters who came without the C. Pemberitahuan-KWK notification form from casting their ballots.

Accordingly, the Court ruled that the Petitioners’ argument—that the non-distribution of the C. Notification-KWK form had caused voters to lose their right to vote—was legally unfounded and unsupported by sufficient evidence.

High School Diploma Marlinus

As in Decision No. 329/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 concerning the Boven Digoel regent election dispute filed by Candidate Pair Number 1, Athanasius Koknak–Basri Muhammadiah, the Court emphasized that there was legal evidence showing Candidate Number 3 for Deputy Regent, Marlinus, registered using a high school diploma or its equivalent, not a bachelor’s degree (S1). The use of a high school diploma or its equivalent met the requirements under Article 7 paragraph (2) letter c of Law No. 10 of 2016 and Article 14 paragraph (2) letter c of KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024, which set the minimum educational qualification as a high school diploma or equivalent for candidates for governor and deputy governor, regent and deputy regent, and mayor and deputy mayor.

The Boven Digoel KPU had verified the authenticity of Marlinus’s diploma, as evidenced by a confirmation letter from the South Sulawesi Provincial Education Office, UPT SMA Negeri 3 Palopo. During the administrative verification process, no discrepancies were found between Marlinus’s candidate declaration form, the Candidate Information System (Silon), and the identity listed on the ballot. Bawaslu Boven Digoel also confirmed in its supervision report that Marlinus was declared eligible.

Subsequently, the Respondent determined the candidate pair for the 2024 Boven Digoel regent election in a closed plenary meeting, as mandated by Article 120 paragraph (1) of KPU Regulation No. 8 of 2024 and KPU Decree No. 314 of 2025, and formalized it in Boven Digoel KPU Decision No. 16 of 2025 on March 23, 2025. The Court underlined that if the Petitioners truly believed the KPU had failed to hold a plenary meeting, they should have filed a report of alleged administrative violations with either the KPU or Bawaslu during the candidate determination stage. Since no such report was submitted, election organizers could not examine or follow up on the allegation.

The final vote count showed Candidate Pair Number 1, Athanasius Koknak–Basri Muhammadiah, received 7,662 votes; Candidate Pair Number 2, Yakob Waremba–Suharto, 2,372 votes; Candidate Pair Number 3, Roni Omba–Marlinus, 12,990 votes; and Candidate Pair Number 4, Hengky Yaluwo–Melkior Okaibob, 6,554 votes. The margin between the Petitioners and the Related Party was 5,328 votes—far exceeding the legal threshold for filing a PHPU petition in the Boven Digoel regent election, which is 2 percent of the total valid votes, or 1,408 votes.

Read also:

Court Disqualifies Boven Digoel Regent Candidate, Orders a Revote

Boven Digoel KPU: Vice-Regent Candidate Marlinus Used High School Diploma, Not Bachelor’s

Previously, the Court disqualified the candidate for Candidate Pair Number 3 of Boven Digoel Regency, Petrus Ricolombus Omba, from participating in the 2024 Boven Digoel Regent Election. This was mandated in Constitutional Court Decision Number 260/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025, which was delivered on February 24, 2025.

The Court also instructed the Boven Digoel Regency KPU to conduct a revote for the Regents Election while still including Candidate Pairs Athansius Koknak, S.E.–H. Basri Muhammadiah; Candidate Pairs Yakob Weremba, S.PAK–Suharto; and Candidate Pairs Hengki Yaluwo, S.Sos., M.AP–Melkior Okaibob, S.Pd. At the same time, political parties or coalitions of parties that had previously nominated Candidate Pair Number 3 were given the opportunity to nominate/register a new candidate pair, excluding Petrus Ricolombus Omba. According to the Court, the vacancy could not automatically be filled by appointing the runner-up candidate pair as the elected Regent and Vice Regent, given that the votes in the 2024 Boven Digoel Regent Election were distributed among all four candidate pairs.

The revote was to be carried out using the Permanent Voters List (DPT), the Additional Voters List (DPTb), and the Special Voters List (DPK) that had been used in the November 27, 2024, election, with participation from Athansius Koknak, S.E.–H. Basri Muhammadiah; Yakob Weremba, S.PAK–Suharto; Hengki Yaluwo, S.Sos., M.AP–Melkior Okaibob, S.Pd.; and the new candidate pair nominated by the political party or coalition that had previously endorsed Candidate Pair Number 3, excluding Petrus Ricolombus Omba.

Author : Mimi Kartika

Editor : N. Rosi.

Public Relation : Fauzan F.

Translator : Fuad Subhan

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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