Indonesia's losing candidates ask court to disqualify President-elect Prabowo

JAKARTA – Losing Indonesian presidential candidates filed their legal challenge on March 27, alleging state interference and calling for a re-run of the vote and the disqualification of winner Prabowo Subianto.

Former governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo said Defense Minister Prabowo's resounding victory was aided by a partisan administration's pressure on regional authorities and the mobilization of social assistance as a transactional tool to ensure that There is only one outcome.

The February 2024 elections, Mr. Anies said, showed that the world's third-largest democracy was at risk of falling back into its authoritarian past.

If we do not make corrections now, this will become a precedent in future votes at all levels, he told the Constitutional Court.

This practice will be perceived as normal, as a habit.

Outgoing President Joko Widodo's administration has rejected allegations that it interfered in the election.

Mr. Prabowo secured nearly 60 percent of the vote, helped by the tacit support of his hugely popular former rival, Widodo, promising to continue his agenda of infrastructure upgrades, job creation and development of downstream industries to the country's vast mineral resources.

Mr. Anies received 25 percent of the vote and Mr. Ganjar 16 percent.

Call for neutrality

Disputes over election results are common in Indonesia and the court is expected to issue its decision on April 22.

Mr Anies' team told the court that as a beneficiary of unfair practices, Mr Prabowo should be disqualified from voting. His team also urged the judges to order Mr. Widodo to act neutrally in any new elections and to refrain from mobilizing the state apparatus or using the state budget to help a candidate .

Were the 2024 elections conducted freely, honestly and fairly? Mr. Anies asked the court.

Let us answer: no. What happened was the opposite.

Mr. Prabowo said he won clearly and fairly. The two candidates' presentation lacked evidence, his legal team said on March 27, adding that there had never been a new presidential election in Indonesian history.

Separately, Mr. Ganjar's team asked the Constitutional Court to order a new election no later than June 26, disqualifying Mr. Prabowo and excluding Mr. Widodos' son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, alleging his inclusion of last minute for the post of vice-president in Parliament. ticket had unfairly influenced the vote.

Mr. Widodos' nepotism and abuse of power in the election violated the constitution, they added, citing Mr. Gibran's candidacy and the appointment of his supporters to regional posts.

The violations during the elections surprise us because they destroyed our morality, which constitutes an abuse of power, Ganjar told the court.

Mr. Gibran was able to run because of a sudden change in election eligibility rules by a court where Mr. Widodos' brother-in-law, Anwar Usman, was chief justice. The judge was reprimanded by an ethics committee for failing to recuse himself and intentionally allowing unspecified outside intervention in the case.

Mr. Anwar has been barred from presiding over electoral disputes since an ethics committee found him guilty of violations.

Mr. Widodo's loyalists defended him and rejected a storm of criticism that he abused his position to secure Mr. Prabowo's victory to preserve his legacy after a decade in charge.

Election analyst Titi Anggraini said Mr Anies and Mr Ganjar's complaints about the president's son's role in the election could be tricky because the same court was responsible for allowing him to run.

People advocating for themselves are at the center of the issues surrounding the 2024 election, she said. REUTERS