Constitutional Court Decides on Regional Election Dispute, Who Makes it to the Next Hearing?

The trial of the regional election result disputes at the Constitutional Court or MK has entered a crucial stage. MK will hold a session to pronounce decisions and/or rulings on 310 dispute cases today (4/2/2025) and Wednesday (5/2/2025). On this occasion, the nine MK judges will decide which dispute petitions will proceed to the evidence stage and which cases will be dismissed or halted midway.

Previously, the Constitutional Court had held a preliminary hearing to listen to the main points of the petition submitted by the dispute applicant, and had also heard statements from the regional General Election Commission, the Election Supervisory Body, and related parties (the winners of the regional elections).

The parties have been given the same opportunity to explain their arguments and outline the facts they possess in the trial held from January 8 to January 31.

Out of the 310 cases, 23 of them are disputes regarding the election of governors and deputy governors, 49 cases are related to the election of mayors and deputy mayors, and the remaining 238 cases are related to the election of regents and deputy regents.

"Through this decision/pronouncement session, it will also be known which cases will proceed to the next stage of trial examination on February 7-17," said the Head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau of the Constitutional Court, Pan Muhamad Faiz, on Tuesday (4/2/2025).

The Constitutional Court's decision also determines the fate of the parties involved in the dispute. If their case fails in a dismissal decision, the election results previously determined by the KPU will remain valid and legally valid. For the winners of the election (related parties) in cases that were dismissed by the Constitutional Court, they can be determined as the elected candidate pair to be subsequently inaugurated as regional heads/deputy regional heads.

On the other hand, for those whose cases are continued to further hearings, the candidate pairs and their legal teams have the opportunity to prove their arguments regarding fraud or violations that occurred during the election or vote counting recapitulation.

Faiz revealed that each party (the petitioner, the respondent, the related parties) in the dispute over the results of the governor/deputy governor election can present six witnesses and experts. Meanwhile, for disputes over the results of the regency/city elections, each party can present four witnesses and experts. The submission of the list of witnesses and experts can be done no later than one working day before the hearing takes place.

The examination of witnesses and experts presented will be conducted from February 7-17. The Constitutional Court will hold a session for the reading of the final verdict on February 24.

In order to read the dismissal decision, the Constitutional Court worked with the police to tighten security in the Constitutional Court building and its surroundings. However, Faiz said, there was no concrete fence or wire fence around the Constitutional Court building.

One of the constitutional advocates, Viktor Santoso Tandiasa, said that his party had received an invitation to attend the trial for the reading of the dismissal decision or the decision that will be held by the Constitutional Court. Three cases involving his clients will be read on Wednesday (5/2).

"Optimistic about dismissal. (Because) There were no objections at the TPS level, no Bawaslu recommendations. It should have been dismissed to the authority of the Constitutional Court, legal standing, and obscurity (unclear request)," said Viktor. Viktor became the legal counsel for the winner of the regional election for three cases.

The results of the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision are not only awaited by the parties to the case. The results of this decision are also awaited by the government. This is because the government plans to inaugurate the heads and deputy heads of regions whose election result dispute cases were decided not to be continued by the Constitutional Court in the dismissal decision hearing with the heads and deputy heads of regions whose election results were not disputed at the Constitutional Court.

The total number of regional elections whose results were not disputed at the Constitutional Court was 296 regions. The number of regional elections whose results were still disputed at the Constitutional Court was 249 regions.

In a meeting of Commission II of the DPR, the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), and election organizers yesterday, the government's plan to combine the inauguration of regional heads for areas not in dispute at the Constitutional Court with the results of the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision was approved by Commission II of the DPR.

As for the time of the inauguration, it is entirely up to the government. However, according to Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, President Prabowo has agreed that the inauguration of regional heads will be held on February 20.

However, on the basis of caution and providing flexibility for various dynamics that may occur in the future, Commission II of the DPR has completely handed over the inauguration schedule to the government through the Minister of Home Affairs, whose formula will later be through a revision of Presidential Regulation Number 80 of 2024 concerning the Schedule and Procedures for the Inauguration of Regional Heads.

"In principle, God willing, (the inauguration of regional heads) will be held on February 20, 2025 in the nation's capital, in this case Jakarta," said Chairman of Commission II of the DPR, Rifqinizamy Karsayuda.

Before the government decided to combine the inauguration of regional heads and deputy heads whose election results were not disputed at the Constitutional Court with the results of the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision, Tito said he had consulted with Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo and Constitutional Court Judge Saldi Isra.

In the consultation, the Constitutional Court judges were reluctant to reveal the estimated number of regional election result disputes that ultimately resulted in the dismissal decision being rejected.

"I did ask and tease, bait, the point is, is the dismissal (number) significant? Because, if the number is significant, more regional heads will be inaugurated. And, it was said to me, 'The Minister of Home Affairs can see past experiences in previous regional elections, it was above 50 percent, even 80 percent. However, we cannot say how many, let alone the regions. That is a secret,'" Tito said.

In communication with the Constitutional Court, Tito also said that the Constitutional Court agreed that the dismissal decision would be immediately downloaded from the Constitutional Court's official website shortly after it was read.

However, advocate and Managing Partner of Diansyah & Partners Law Firm Febri Diansyah reminded that the Constitutional Court through decision Number 27 of 2024 has decided that the inauguration of regional heads/deputy regional heads resulting from the 2024 Pilkada will be held simultaneously after the election results dispute process at the Constitutional Court is complete. Currently, the process at the Constitutional Court is still ongoing and is scheduled to be completed in mid-March 2025.

"If the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Pilkada is still forced before the election dispute at the Constitutional Court is resolved (except for regions that have been decided to hold a PSU/re-vote), this risks being legally flawed because it violates Constitutional Court Decision No. 27/PUU-XXII/2024," said Febri, Monday (3/2/2025).

Although the government has canceled the inauguration on February 6 and chosen to wait until the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision, it does not mean that it is in accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision. The inauguration of regional heads after the Constitutional Court's dismissal decision still risks being legally flawed because it still violates Constitutional Court Decision No. 27/PUU-XXII/2024.