Re-voting in 25 Regions, Serious Alarm for the Credibility of Pilkada Implementation

The Constitutional Court's ruling regarding the re-voting in 25 electoral districts demonstrates how the principles of honesty and fairness are being seriously upheld in the regional elections. On the other hand, the Constitutional Court's decision on the implementation of the re-voting indicates the continued presence of election organizers who are neither professional nor credible in carrying out their duties, resulting in several elected regional head candidates being disqualified by the Court for failing to meet the candidacy requirements.

The Constitutional Court (MK) delivered rulings on 40 cases of disputes over the 2024 Regional Election results on Monday (25/2/2025). A total of 25 out of the 40 regions whose rulings were announced are required to conduct a re-vote (PSU), either in all polling stations or only in certain ones. The PSU must be held because the Constitutional Court found several issues in those regions.

There are 15 regions ordered to conduct re-voting (PSU) at all polling stations (TPS), such as in Boven Digoel Regency, Pasaman, and Tasikmalaya. Meanwhile, re-voting at specific polling stations is carried out in 10 regions, such as in Barito Utara Regency and Magetan.

Pasaman Regency, West Sumatra Province, must hold a PSU after the Constitutional Court disqualified the elected Pasaman Deputy Regent candidate, Anggit Kurniawan Nasution. According to the Constitutional Court's ruling, Anggit was proven to be dishonest about his status as a former convict in a fraud case.

When registering with the local KPU, Anggit submitted a police record certificate confirming that he had no record or involvement in any criminal activities.

Anggit's actions do not fulfill the provisions of Article 7 Paragraph (2) letter g of Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Regional Elections. This article regulates the statement of never having been a convict based on a court decision that has obtained permanent legal force or for former convicts who have openly and honestly stated to the public that the person concerned is a former convict.

According to the Constitutional Court's decision, the PSU for the Pasaman Pilkada will be held at all TPS in the Simultaneous Pilkada on November 27, 2024. The Constitutional Court's decision also asked the political parties supporting candidate number 1 to nominate a new deputy candidate to accompany Welly Suheri.

In addition, the Constitutional Court annulled the victory of the Serang regent and deputy regent candidate pair, Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah and Muhammad Najib Hamas, and ordered a revote in the area. The pair with number 2 was disqualified because it was proven that there was an attempt by the village government to influence their victory.

The involvement of village officials is related to the active involvement of the Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Yandri Susanto, husband of Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah.

According to the Constitutional Court, there is strong evidence that Yandri, who is the husband of regent candidate Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah, attended and organized activities that led to massive support from village heads for candidate pair number 2, Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah-M Najib Hamas.

Although the victory of the Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah-Muhammad Najib Hamas pair was canceled, the pair's participation in the Serang Regency Pilkada was not canceled. Therefore, the PSU will still be followed by two candidate pairs, namely Andika Hazrumy-Nanang Supriatna and Ratu Rachmatuzakiyah-Najib Hamas.

Principle of honesty

Lecturer of the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia, Titi Anggraini, appreciated the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the implementation of PSU in 25 electoral districts. According to Titi, the decision shows that the Constitutional Court has seriously upheld the principles of honesty and fairness in the implementation of the Pilkada, especially regarding decisions related to the integrity of candidates who are proven to have engaged in money politics, politicization of government programs, or the neutrality of state and regional officials, such as in the case of Ratu-Najib.

"The principle of honesty is a very fundamental thing in the implementation of the Pilkada, especially when associated with the fulfillment of nomination requirements. Therefore, it is very understandable if the Constitutional Court enforces the honest requirements in nominations firmly and consistently," he said in Jakarta, Tuesday (25/2/2025).

On the other hand, Titi saw the performance of the Indonesian KPU that was unprofessional and not credible in making technical regulations in the nomination of regional elections. In addition, it was also revealed that the organizers were unprofessional in verifying the fulfillment of candidate requirements in the implementation of the nomination stages which caused several elected regional head candidates to be disqualified from the Pilkada.

Titi also assessed that the PSU order due to the occurrence of structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations, such as those that occurred in Mahakam Ulu, East Kalimantan Province, also proved that supervision and law enforcement carried out by the Bawaslu ranks were still problematic.

Lawmakers must seriously evaluate the election organizer selection mechanism in order to prevent non-credible candidates from becoming election organizers in the future.

According to Titi, the law makers must be very serious in evaluating the selection mechanism for election organizers in order to prevent the entry of non-credible candidates to become election organizers in the future.

The evaluation is needed because as a result of the poor performance of the election organizers, the state and society must carry out a PSU which requires expensive costs as a consequence.

KPU Follow-up

With the Constitutional Court's decision, the KPU must follow up thoroughly and consistently. The KPU can follow up by ensuring the availability of a budget for the implementation of the PSU, especially by coordinating with the central government to prepare the PSU budget.

Based on Article 166 aAat (1) of Law Number 8/2015, funding for Election activities is charged to the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) and can be supported by the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) in accordance with the provisions of statutory regulations.

"The existence of these provisions can be the basis for the central government to take responsibility in ensuring the availability of the budget for the implementation of the PSU in accordance with the Constitutional Court's Decision," said Titi.

KPU Chairman Mochammad Afifuddin said that his party is studying the Constitutional Court's decision thoroughly for each application at the Constitutional Court. "We discussed it last night to immediately follow up technically, coordinate with the parties related to the budget, and prepare a timeline for the PSU stages," said Afif.

He also explained that the KPU is preparing an ad hoc body, preparing election logistics, online DPT check portals, and also ensuring that all stages can be carried out.

KPU member August Mellaz added that coordination and supervision are also being carried out by the KPU to the ranks in the provinces and districts/cities in order to follow up on the Constitutional Court Decision. "After the policy and technical review of the implementation is complete, further coordination will also be carried out with the Ministry of Home Affairs," he said.