While the rulings in the cases brought forward by PDI-P presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo and the other losing candidate Anies Baswedan against the landslide victory of Prabowo Subianto are not due until April 22, the justices began deliberations behind closed doors on Saturday.

The petitioners claim that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo used state facilities and resources in an attempt to effect a favorable outcome for Defense Minister Prabowo, who ran with Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

In an opinion piece she wrote for Kompas daily on Monday, Megawati urged the court justices to use "conscience” and “statesmanship" when making their decision and to not let "electoral practices filled with allegations of abuse of power" undermine the country's democracy.

"The justices' decision will be the most important indicator of whether the principle of people's sovereignty will continue to exist in our democracy, or whether we will only see more abuses of power in future elections,” she wrote. “Letting electoral fraud persist without punishment will be the death of our democracy.”

Megawati went on to ask the justices “to reflect on the controversial ruling” on the eligibility requirements for presidential and vice-presidential candidates they made last year and not to repeat that mistake.

Read also: Gibran’s candidacy in focus at court