Khofifah-Emil: Dalil Paslon Risma-Gus Hans Regarding Social Assistance In The East Java Regional Election Dispute Session Is Not Relevant

Illustration of the Constitutional Court (MK). (Antanews)

JAKARTA - The candidate pair for Governor-Deputy Governor of East Java (Jatim) number 2, Khofifah Indar Parawansa-Emil Elestianto Dardak said the argument of Tri Rismaharini-Zahrul Azhar Asumta (Risma-Gus Hans) in his lawsuit at the Constitutional Court (MK) regarding the distribution of social assistance (bansos) was not relevant to the 2024 East Java Pilkada.

"The PKH social assistance candidate (Family Hope Program) in the East Java area questioned by the Petitioner (Risma-Gus Hans), has no relevance to the 2024 East Java Pilkada process or the vote acquisition of one of the candidate pairs," said Khofifah-Emil's attorney, Edward Dewaruci, during a follow-up hearing on the regional election dispute at the Constitutional Court, Jakarta, Friday, January 17, which was confiscated by Antara.

According to Khofifah-Emil, the distribution of PKH social assistance is not appropriate if it is related to the policies of the East Java Provincial Government. This is because the Acting Governor of East Java, Adhy Karyono, has postponed the distribution of social assistance to the public during the pilkada stage, according to the circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The incumbent governor and deputy governor of East Java said that social assistance is a central government program with a schedule that has been designed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Therefore, Khofifah-Emil reversed the allegations against Risma, who is a former Minister of Social Affairs.

"Even if you use the assumption of accusations from the Petitioner, those who can use social assistance to influence the vote acquisition are the Minister of Social Affairs for the 2020-2024 period," said Edward.

Apart from social assistance, Khofifah-Emil is confident that she will remain the winner of the 2024 East Java Regional Election. This can be seen from the results of a survey before the voting day which states that candidate pair number 2 is superior to both rivals.

"Without social assistance, we all know, from the various survey results conducted before the voting, the fact that the high electability of parties is related to various testing parameters shows that the tendency of the majority of the people has determined their regional head candidates," said Edward.

In addition to social assistance, the Khofifah-Emil camp also denied other arguments filed by Risma-Gus Hans, including allegations of reduced votes, anomalies of illegal votes, and manipulation of Sirekap. According to Khofifah Emil, none of the arguments have strong evidence.

Therefore, Khofifah Emil asked the Constitutional Court to reject all of Risma-Gus Hans's requests and stated that the East Java KPU Decree Number 63 of 2024 concerning the Determination of the Results of the 2024 East Java Governor and Deputy Governor Elections will remain in effect.

Previously, candidate pair number 3 Risma-Gus Hans as the applicant in case Number 265/PHPU.GUB-XXIII/2025, asked the Constitutional Court to disqualify Khofifah-Emil for allegedly committing a structured, systematic and massive violation in the 2024 East Java Pilkada.

At the inaugural trial held on Wednesday (8/1), Risma-Gus Hans, one of them questioned the distribution of social assistance in the East Java region during the regional elections, precisely on November 13, 2024. The distribution of social assistance is accused of being correlated with the acquisition of Khofifah-Emil's votes.

Meanwhile, the East Java KPU previously determined that the Khofifah-Emil pair got the most votes, namely 12,192,165 votes. Meanwhile, the Risma-Gus Hans pair received 6,743,095 votes.