T

he Constitutional Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by five Papua gubernatorial candidate pairs against the Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) regarding the recent Papua election, in which Lukas Enembe and Klemen Tinal were declared the victors.

The five candidate pairs are Noak Nawipa and John Wop; Habel Melkias Suwae and Yop Kogoya; MR Kambu and Blasius Adolf Pakage; Wellinton Wenda and Weynand Watori; and Alex Hesegem and Marthen Kayoi.

The decision was read out by Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD, with eight other justices in attendance, at the court in Jakarta on Monday. The five plaintiffs submitted three separate lawsuits, all of which alleged election fraud.

The plaintiffs said the fixed voters’ list had been inflated to favor a particular candidate pair, but it was revealed in court that the voters’ list used by the KPUD to determine the number of eligible voters in Papua was based on a census conducted by the Papua Population and Transmigration Office.

Regarding their complaint that the so-called noken system was undemocratic as a tribal chief could represent voters in his group when voting for a candidate, the Constitutional Court ruled that it was not a violation because the system was part of Papuan culture, especially in La Pago and Mee Pago cultural areas that encompass the region of Pegunungan Tengah.

Following the court’s ruling, KPU Papua head Benny Sweni said he would immediately hold a plenary meeting to determine the winners of the 2013 Papua gubernatorial election and the outcome would be submitted to the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD).

The DPRD would then hold a plenary session to endorse the winners and submit the final decision to the Home Ministry to schedule the inauguration.

“We hope the swearing-in ceremony can be held immediately after that; the sooner the better, hopefully within this month,” said Benny.

On Feb. 14, the KPUD announced Lukas-Klemen, commonly abbreviated to “Lukmen”, as the elected Papua governor and deputy governor at a plenary meeting in Jayapura.

Lukas and Klemen, who were nominated by a coalition led by the Democratic Party, won 1.19 million votes, 52 percent of the total 2.71 million votes, followed by Habel Melkias and Suwae-Yop Kogoya, who obtained 415,382 votes or 18 percent of the vote.

Less than a week after the announcement, all five defeated pairs of candidates filed suits with the Constitutional Court on Feb. 19 to challenge the KPUD’s declaration of Lukas and Klemen as governor- and deputy governor-elect, respectively.

Local elections in Papua, where US-based miner Freeport McMoran operates the world’s largest integrated gold concession, have regularly been the catalysts for conflicts ignited by losing candidates, while protracted disputes between local leaders contribute to the slow pace of development in the province.

The Papua gubernatorial election had in fact been postponed for two years due to a dispute between the DPRD and the KPUD over the authority to organize the election.

According to Special Provincial Regulation (Perdasus) No. 6/2011, the DPRD is tasked with the authority to organize election stages from registration and candidate verification to hearing candidates’ missions and visions, while the KPUD oversees election campaigning and determines the winners.

In 2011, Perdasus No. 6/2011 was submitted to the Constitutional Court for litigation and in September 2012, the court ruled that the Papua election process be returned to the KPUD. Subsequently, the Papua gubernatorial election was organized on Jan. 29, 2013.

“Finally after two years, Papua has a governor and deputy governor, marking an end to the election process,” DPRD Deputy Speaker Junus Wonda said.