TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Losing candidate Anies tells court election was fraught with interference
The legal team of losing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan on Wednesday requested the Constitutional Court order an election re-run and disqualify president-elect Prabowo Subianto, alleging state interference to sway the outcome in his favor.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
The Constitutional Court officials receives the representatives of political parties and 2024 elections candidates registering legal challenges against the official election returns in Jakarta on March 22, 2024. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
Indonesia's losing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan on Wednesday laid out his challenge in court to last month's presidential election, calling it unjust and fraught with interference to sway the ballot in favor of one candidate.
The former Jakarta governor said the election, which saw a resounding victory for Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, was helped by the pressure from the administration on regional authorities and the mobilization of social aid as a "transactional tool" to ensure one outcome.
Prabowo received 60 percent of the votes, with the help of tens of millions of young Indonesian and his promise of continuity of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's policies after a decade in charge.
Anies and third-placed Ganjar Pranowo won 25 percent and 16 percent of the vote respectively.
Anies told the Constitutional Court that after two decades of direct elections, Indonesia was at risk of sliding into its authoritarian past.
"If we don't perform corrections right now, then it'll become a precedent in the future at votes on every level," he said. "This practice will be perceived as normal, a habit."
The court is expected to deliver its decision on the case on April 22. Challenges to election outcomes are typical in Indonesia.
The team of Anies has called on the Constitutional Court to order an election re-run that excludes Jokowi's son, alleging his last-minute inclusion for the vice president's post on Prabowo's ticket unfairly influenced the vote.
It also called for the judges to order that the incumbent president stay neutral, according to the plaintiff's requests in a presentation slide obtained by Reuters.
Loyalists of the president have defended him and rejected a storm of criticism that he abused his position to ensure former rival Prabowo won, in a move to preserve his legacy after a decade in power.
