Initially drawing little attention from observers and the media, the election in Sabu Raijua became a nationwide sensation in February after the local Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) revealed to the public that Orient had in fact both an Indonesian and a United States passport.

NTT-born Orient and his running mate Thobias Uly won 48 percent of the vote in a three-horse race in December 2020 -- beating the 30 and 21 percent the two other pairs netted. But Orient had failed to declare his possession of a US passport, which should have made him ineligible to run in the election. This has also put the General Elections Commission (KPU), particularly its Sabu Raijua office, under scrutiny for its inability to prevent Orient from competing in the race.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court concluded that Orient had held a US passport since 2007, which he renewed in 2017.

Indonesia does not recognize dual citizenship. Its strict single-citizenship law stipulates that any Indonesian found to hold a foreign passport will automatically lose their Indonesian citizenship.

Thursday's ruling annulled the candidacy and victory of the Orient-Thobias pair in favor of petitioners Takem Irianto Radja Pono and Herman Hegi Radja Haba, a candidate pair who came last in the election. The pair turned to the court on March 9, two months after the election, as authorities had been unable to solve the unprecedented problem.

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