Quiz Jury Penalises Correct Answer, MPR Leadership Apologises

The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) has expressed apologies regarding the viral decision by the judging panel that treated the same answer differently in the Four Pillars MPR RI Quiz Competition held in West Kalimantan, which gained attention on social media.

MPR Deputy Chairman Abcandra Muhammad Akbar Supratman assured that they would evaluate the performance of the judging panel and the competition system.

“We apologise for the judging panel’s oversight. We will follow up on this incident,” said Abcandra in his statement on Tuesday (12/5).

He confirmed that a full evaluation of the competition’s implementation would be conducted promptly. Moreover, he mentioned hearing about a similar case in another province the previous year.

“I see that this Quiz Competition needs evaluation to make it better. There should be no more incidents like this,” said Abcandra.

Meanwhile, MPR RI Secretary General Siti Fauziah stated that they respect public attention and input regarding the competition.

The MPR understands that educational and youth development activities, including quiz competitions, must uphold values of sportsmanship, objectivity, fairness, and integrity.

Siti explained that the MPR would conduct a thorough evaluation of the technical aspects of the competition, including the scoring mechanism, clarity of answer articulation, participant answer verification system, and handling of objections in the competition.

“Public input will serve as important evaluation material to maintain the quality of activities and public trust in the inclusive, educational, and integrity-driven national learning process,” she said.

The viral incident in the final of the Four Pillars MPR RI Quiz Competition in West Kalimantan Province began when the judging panel gave different scores to the same answer from teams B and C in a buzzer round question.

“The leadership of the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) is elected from and by its members. However, to become a BPK member, ties to regional representation are still maintained. In selecting BPK members, the House of Representatives (DPR) is required to consider input from which institution?” asked the host, quoted from the MPR YouTube channel on Monday (11/5).

Team C from SMAN 1 Pontianak, which pressed the buzzer first, answered that members of the Financial Audit Board are selected by the House of Representatives taking into account considerations from the Regional Representative Council and inaugurated by the President.

However, one of the judges, Head of the Review Bureau of the MPR RI Secretariat Dyastasita, gave -5 points to Team C’s answer.

But when Team B gave the same answer, the judge awarded them 10 points.

“Yes, the core of the answer is correct. Score 10,” said Dyastasita.

One of the participants from Team C immediately protested. They showed confused expressions because their answer was penalised despite being the same.

“Excuse me, earlier we answered the same as Team B. The same,” said Team C.

However, judge Dyastasita reasoned that Team C’s answer did not include the Regional Representative Council.

“Earlier, Team C mentioned, the consideration from the DPD was not there. DPR earlier,” said Dyastasita.

Team C protested again, stating that the initial answer had included the Regional Representative Council. However, Dyastasita stood firm.

“So the judging panel opined that the Regional Representative Council was not there,” said Dyastasita.

Team C continued to protest and asked the judges to seek the audience’s opinion on whether their answer included the DPD. However, Dyastasita said the decision remained with the judging panel.

Another judge, Head of the Secretariat Section of the MPR Socialisation Board Indri Wahyuni, instead asked participants to clarify their articulation when answering questions.

“Like this, it has been warned from the beginning, right? Articulation is important. So, get used to answering with clear articulation. If you think it’s clear, but the judging panel assesses it as not because they didn’t hear your articulation clearly, then the judging panel has the right to give -5 points. So once again, we warn that articulation should be noted,” said Indri Wahyuni.