Jakarta – Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU) has explained how it verified Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's education documents for the 2024 presidential election after the Constitutional Court (MK) said election authorities need to apply greater care when checking candidate documents.
KPU Chair Mochammad Afifuddin said Wednesday that the commission had relied on an official document certifying Gibran's overseas education as equivalent to the required level of schooling when it reviewed his eligibility.
The explanation came a day after the MK issued its ruling in a case challenging the 2024 presidential election. While the court rejected the petition on procedural grounds, it said the principle that official documents are presumed valid should be accompanied by greater diligence and caution in verifying candidate documents.
KPU says it had no reason to question document
Afifuddin said the KPU verified presidential and vice presidential candidates' documents under the Election Law and KPU Regulation No. 19 of 2023 on presidential and vice presidential candidacy.
For Gibran's education requirement, the commission used a certificate of equivalency issued by the Education Ministry on August 6, 2019, as well as a related decision issued by the ministry's director general for higher education two days later.
The KPU treated the documents as valid under the principle of presumption of validity, which holds that an administrative decision remains legally valid unless revoked or annulled by an authorized body.
Afifuddin said the certificate had been issued by a government institution authorized to assess and certify the equivalency of foreign education. The same documents had also been used in the verification of Gibran's candidacy for the 2020 Surakarta mayoral election and had not been revoked when the KPU reviewed his presidential candidacy in 2023.
Under Article 42(2) of KPU Regulation No. 19 of 2023, the commission may seek clarification from a candidate's supporting political party or relevant government agency if there are doubts about a candidate's documents.
But the KPU said it found no reason at the time to question Gibran's equivalency certificate based on the issuing authority, its validity, and its previous use. It also said it had received no public complaints about the document, either directly or through the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).
The KPU therefore concluded that no further clarification was required and determined that Gibran met the education requirement based on the documents available at the time.
MK calls for greater scrutiny
The MK, however, said in its ruling that the presumption of validity should not be applied without careful and thorough verification of candidate documents.
The court said it did not find convincing evidence that Gibran possessed a foreign diploma, certificate, or degree that could serve as the basis for equivalency with at least a high school education or its equivalent.
The court said documents presented during the proceedings, including a certificate of attendance and academic records, did not establish that Gibran had completed a particular level of education. Instead, the documents showed his participation in an educational program.
Despite its findings, the MK dismissed the petition because the applicants lacked legal standing to challenge the results of the 2024 presidential election.
Afifuddin said the KPU remained responsible for verifying candidates' documents, while the assessment and equivalency of foreign education falls under the authority of the relevant government ministry.