MPR Secretary General Denies Allegations of Bias by LCC Four Pillars Jury in West Kalimantan

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Secretary General of the MPR RI, Siti Fauziah, has denied allegations that the jury of the Four Pillars Quiz Competition (LCC) for 2026 at the West Kalimantan provincial level favoured one school in connection with a judging error during the final round.

“Oh no, no. That doesn’t exist. We always try to ensure the jury has no bias at all, none, so what was conveyed is clear: there is no (bias),” said MPR RI Secretary General Siti Fauziah in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to Siti, the controversy that occurred in the provincial-level final round in Pontianak on Saturday (9/5) was due to a technical error. The jury panel was reportedly hindered by noise from the participants’ direction, leading to the judging mistake.

“There were indeed some matters that I may not elaborate on further because there are certain rules, and ultimately it was technical constraints with sound and other issues,” she stated.

The MPR is committed to conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the competition’s organisation. The final round specifically for the LCC Four Pillars at the West Kalimantan provincial level has been decided to be repeated this month.

In a press conference, the MPR explained that the jury panel for the rerun final will be replaced. Previously drawn from MPR internals, the jury for the rerun will be selected from independent figures such as academics.

The MPR had previously imposed deactivation sanctions on the aforementioned jury panel from this year’s series of LCC Four Pillars activities. Additionally, the secretariat is currently reviewing options for further administrative personnel sanctions.

Meanwhile, regarding public calls for the involved jury members to issue personal apologies, Siti stated that the MPR RI Secretariat has already conveyed an institutional apology.

Previously, on Saturday (9/5), three senior high schools (SMA) competed in the final round of the MPR RI Four Pillars LCC at the West Kalimantan provincial level, namely SMA Negeri 1 Pontianak, SMA Negeri 1 Sambas, and SMA Negeri 1 Sanggau.

The competition became widely discussed on social media due to a judging error during the buzzer question session.

Participants had raised objections to the jury’s judgement. However, the response from the jury panel, namely the Head of the Assessment Bureau of the MPR RI Secretariat Dyastasita W.B. and the Head of the Secretariat Section of the MPR RI Socialisation Agency Indri Wahyuni, drew criticism from netizens.