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Analysis: Court upholds election results, as expected
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The nine justices of the Constitutional Court preside over a hearing. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
U
nsurprisingly, the Constitutional Court put an end to all election result disputes by rejecting the legal challenges put forward by losing presidential candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. In two separate five-to-three majority rulings on Monday, the justices upheld the landslide victory of president-elect Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Although the court found no evidence of fraud or state meddling to influence the results of the Feb. 14 presidential election, three justices, namely Saldi Isra, Arief Hidayat and Enny Nurbaningsih, voiced dissenting opinions that called for a revote in provinces where state intervention in the form of social aid disbursement helped sway the vote in favor of the Prabowo-Gibran ticket.
In his dissenting opinion, Saldi condemned the General Elections Commission (KPU) for its lack of fairness in this year's presidential race. He also agreed with the plaintiffs that the disbursement of social aid by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Gibran's father, during the November to February campaign period worked in favor of the Prabowo-Gibran pair, who championed the continuation of the outgoing President's policies and programs. Moreover, Saldi also proposed that in the future, the Constitutional Court should be allowed to handle cases concerning the ethics and execution of the entire electoral process, rather than only election results disputes, as is the current practice.
From the beginning, it seems that both the petitioners, Anies and Ganjar, knew they stood a slim chance of convincing the court to annul the election results. The unprecedented dissenting opinions from the three progressive justices were the best they could hope for, even if they could not change anything.
Historically, the court has never decided on a nationwide rerun of the presidential polls. While the court has ruled for a revote before, this refers to the 2021 regional election in Sabu Raijua, East Nusa Tenggara, in which the regent-elect was found to have dual citizenship, ordering a revote for the country's highest office would have repercussions that would inevitably result in instability in Indonesia's political landscape.
After all the brouhaha, with allegations of the misuse of state apparatus and resources at the center of the presidential elections dispute case, the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) expressed its commitment to monitoring the distribution of social aid during the simultaneous regional elections slated for Nov. 27 this year.
Bawaslu chairman Rahmat Bagja reiterated that the poll watchdog would uphold the neutrality of the state apparatus and the implementation of government-led programs, considering that the November elections would be more complex than the previous elections since this year they would be held simultaneously across all provinces, cities and regencies, except for the special region of Yogyakarta.
Furthermore, the alleged ethics breaches that gave way to Gibran's win as vice president-elect have sparked worries that Jokowi's other children and relatives, as well as family members of other politicians and high-ranking officials, would follow suit to secure public offices. For one, Jokowi's son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, intends to run for governor in North Sumatra, while his second son, Kaesang Pangarep, has been touted among potential candidates for the Jakarta gubernatorial race.
What’s More
In response to the court ruling, Anies and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar conceded defeat and claimed that this marked the end of the Coalition for Change. Although Muhaimin, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), expressed hope that the party would still get along with other members of the coalition, namely the NasDem Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), NasDem chairman Surya Paloh has hinted that he would be approaching the Prabowo-Gibran camp in a bid to "start a new chapter."
Apart from accepting the court ruling and congratulating Prabowo and Gibran for their win, Ganjar's running mate Mahfud MD also highlighted the fact that dissenting opinions were unprecedented in the history of the Constitutional Court. For observers, this may indicate that the alleged ethics violations may have some ground but that the justices simply chose to turn a blind eye.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) deemed the court an institution that has lost its credibility and independence concerning cases that deal with the political interests of the government. The YLBHI also claimed that the court decision would only legitimize unfair political practices and fraudulent elections in the future, further tarnishing the country's young democracy.
Netizens have also been divided over the issue, with some unable to accept the court ruling. Social media has been dominated by negative sentiments following the court decision, according to data from the Indikator Politik Indonesia. One of the most mentioned issues is whether Gibran could be legitimately recognized as the vice president-elect.
On a separate note, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which backed the losing Ganjar-Mahfud ticket, said it would still file a lawsuit against the KPU with the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN). PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said the Constitutional Court had failed to maintain its role as a bulwark of the Constitution and democracy and reiterated that the party would continue fighting to ensure future elections are democratic, honest and fair.
Rather than disputing the election results, the PDI-P is filing a lawsuit against the KPU for allowing Gibran to register as a vice presidential candidate in the first place.
What we’ve heard
As soon as the Constitutional Court announced its verdict, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri held a meeting with the party's executives. During the meeting, according to a source Megawati applauded the three justices who voiced dissenting opinions.
However, Megawati was disappointed with the court decision, which she said "will be considered in determining the party's future political stance."
The party also filed a lawsuit with the PTUN against the KPU for allowing Gibran to register himself as the running mate to Prabowo. A source said the lawsuit was supposed to be filed before the Constitutional Court announced its decision. However, the process was delayed.
Meanwhile, a source from Anies' team said that they had expected the court to turn down their demands. Anies and Muhaimin turned up for the final court hearing to meet the request of their supporters. "The voters' enthusiasm for change remains strong," said the source.
Disclaimer
This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesia’s political and business landscape. Access the latest edition of Tenggara Backgrounder to read the articles listed below:
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