Prabowo-Gibran team wins before Indonesian Constitutional Court – World

The Indonesian Constitutional Court on April 22 rejected the complaint filed by the losing parties in the presidential elections, stressing that the allegations submitted to the Court “have no legal basis.”

The court verdict effectively legitimized the landslide victory of Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko Widodo. The duo will be sworn in as the country's president and vice president in October and will each serve a five-year term.

“The court rejects all requests (for a repeat of the presidential elections),” said Suhartoyo, president of the Constitutional Court, reading the court's decision on allegations of fraud made by Prabowo's opponents, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo. Anies and Ganjar had asked the court for a repeat of the presidential election, alleging that “structured, systematic and massive” fraud had been committed during the February 14 vote.

Three of the court's eight judges also read their dissenting opinion and demanded a repeat of the elections in the capital Jakarta and the provinces of West Java, East Java, Bali and North Sumatra.

The court's decision was issued two weeks after receiving and processing the complaints filed by Anies and Ganjar. Anies and Ganjar, however, will not be able to appeal because the court's decision is final and binding.

Nixon Silfanus, chief commissioner of an investment management company in Jakarta, appreciates that the losing parties took their cases to court, preventing their supporters from resorting to violence.

“As for us, the business community, we always want (political) stability. Any court decision in favor of losing couples (in the 2024 elections) would lead to instability,” Silfanus said.

Before issuing its verdict, the court held hearings and interviewed witnesses to investigate the allegations against Prabowo and Gibran. Anies and Ganjar claimed that Widodo's administration used the popular welfare distribution program and deployed security agents and other state agencies to consolidate votes for Prabowo and Gibran. They said this went against existing rules that require the incumbent president to remain neutral during the election campaign.

Anies and Ganjar also claimed that Gibran's nomination as vice presidential candidate was illegitimate. Under current election laws, only citizens aged 40 and over are eligible to run for president and vice president. But under the presidency of Judge Anwar Usman, who is President Joko Widodo's brother-in-law, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling changing the minimum age limit, allowing Gibran, 36, to run for office.

Anwar was forced to resign from his post in November 2023 after the Constitutional Court's ethics board found him guilty of ethical violations for his failure to recuse himself from a case that would actually benefit his nephew. Despite Anwar's demotion, the court refused to overturn its ruling on legal age limits amid growing legal challenges from various individuals and groups.

Nus Bilo, deputy director of the NasDem Party's National Defense Academy and a member of its legal section, said: “Clean general elections show the nobility of a nation.” NasDem leads the coalition that supported Anies' candidacy.

Arya Fernández, head of the Department of Politics and Social Change at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, said that for political reasons the Court could not disqualify the results of the 2024 presidential election, Prabowo- Gibran being the winner. .

“The demand (from the two losing candidates) that the new vote take place on a national scale is very serious,” he declared, highlighting the 58 percent of the national votes obtained by the winning Prabowo-Gibran couple during the elections. elections of February 14.

Yoes Kenawas, a researcher at Atmajaya Catholic University in Jakarta, said people should accept today's decision by the Constitutional Court because judges struggled to obtain proof that there had been fraud “structured, systematic and massive” elections involving President Widodo. government officials and bureaucracy – as strongly asserted by both losing presidential candidates and political activists.

Fernandez and Kenawas found it encouraging and significant for the nation that three of the eight justices dissented. This is the first case in the history of the country's general elections, and it teaches citizens to be more aware of electoral fraud and its negative consequences on their life as a nation.

The First Sarmiento in Hong Kong contributed to this story.