Gibran Trial: Former KPU Commissioner Details Verification of Sherly's School Documents
Former Commissioner of the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU), I Gusti Putu Artha, explained the process of verifying Sherly Tjoanda’s documents for her candidacy as Governor of North Maluku during a hearing at the Constitutional Court (MK).
Putu provided this testimony as a witness in case number 01/PHPU.PRES-XXVI/2024 regarding the dispute over the 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election results on Wednesday night.
In his statement, Putu explained that verifying documents by directly visiting the institutions that issued them, including proof of school graduation, is a crucial step. “My legal understanding regarding the authenticity of these documents is that they must be physically verified. We cannot simply trust that a document is authentic without visiting the issuing authority,” Putu told the Constitutional Judges.
He further noted that after receiving information from a teacher at SMA 1 Yoseph, KPU commissioners from North Maluku travelled to Santo Yoseph Denpasar to personally check Sherly Tjoanda’s diploma to confirm her graduation in Bali.
During the hearing, legal counsel for the KPU, Saleh, questioned whether Putu had performed similar verifications for presidential candidates during the 2009 election. Putu responded that as the Head of the Debate and Campaign Working Group (Pokja) at the time, the responsibility for physical verification lay with the working group rather than the entire commission. He noted that while the commission holds collective responsibility, the Pokja is tasked with communicating with parties and conducting field checks.
The trial is part of a lawsuit filed at the Constitutional Court challenging the eligibility of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as a Vice Presidential candidate in the 2024 election. The petitioners include the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), Partai Ummat, former Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights Denny Indrayana, and several members of a retired military personnel forum.
The petitioners are requesting the Court to declare that the educational requirements stipulated in Article 169 letter r of the Election Law are mandatory and must be legally fulfilled at the time of registration. They are seeking the disqualification of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, arguing that his appointment was legally flawed from the outset, and are requesting the annulment of his inauguration by the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR).