JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – The runner-up candidate in Indonesia's presidential election filed a complaint Thursday with the Constitutional Court alleging widespread irregularities and irregularities at voting stations.
Former Jakarta Governor Anies BaswedanHe, who won around 41 million votes (24.9%), told reporters he wanted to improve the electoral process in Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, by contesting the official results.
His lawyer said he wants a new vote.
“I want to emphasize that what we experienced and witnessed, and what the media and the public saw, was that there were many problems with this election process, from policy and regulation to enforcement,” Baswedan said. said.
The winner of the election is Minister of Defense Prabowo SubiantoThe election received more than 96 million votes (58.6%) in the February 14 vote, according to the final results announced by the election commission late Wednesday. Subianto has chosen as his running mate the son of a popular outgoing president accused of human rights abuses under previous dictatorships.
The third candidate, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, received 27 million votes, or 16.5%, according to the committee. Polling station results have been posted on the website to allow for independent verification.
Television news reports on Thursday showed Mr Baswedan's lawyers and members of his election team filing a court challenge with a trove of documents showing evidence of fraud.
Ali Yusuf Amir, head of Baswedan's legal team, said the fraud stemmed from outgoing President Joko Widodo's son, Gibran Rakabumin Raka, being allowed to run for vice president alongside Subianto. He said it had started. The Constitutional Court made an exception to the minimum age requirement of 40 years for candidates. Raka is 37 years old.
“His candidacy has had a huge impact,” Amir told a news conference after filing his challenge with the Constitutional Court.
Anwar Usman was the chief justice of the court. when an exception occursWidodo's brother-in-law. The ethics committee then forced Usman to resign. Because he did not recuse himself and because he changed his candidacy requirements at the last minute, the court allowed him to remain in court as long as he does not participate in election-related litigation.
Ms. Baswedan's lawyers also argued that the government supported Mr. Subianto and Mr. Raka by threatening village heads across the country and spending government social aid to persuade voters to vote for them. He said he did.
“If our arguments are accepted by the judges, we hope that a new vote will be held without the controversial vice-presidential candidate,” Amir said. “Let us fight honestly, fairly and freely.”
Constitutional Court spokesperson Fajar Laxono Suroso said Mr Baswedan's case would be heard by April 22 and a verdict would be handed down on May 7. He cannot appeal this judgment. Because Usman has to recuse himself, the decision will be made by eight judges instead of a nine-member court.
Todun Mulya Lubis, a prominent lawyer representing Mr. Pranowo, another election candidate, said his team would file its own complaint by the midnight Saturday deadline for candidates to register to contest. Then he said.
He told reporters Thursday that his team would bring in about 30 witnesses to testify in court.Rubis said it before. His team is having trouble gathering witnesses. Some of them had been intimidated by authorities, so they agreed to testify in court.
He acknowledged that it would be difficult to successfully contest an election result with such a large margin of victory.
“We are not rejecting the election, but we want to improve and correct the mistakes in the electoral process,” Rubis said.
Widodo has faced criticism for expressing support for Subianto. The outgoing president distanced himself from his own party and took a series of actions seen as an effort to boost Subianto's campaign. Indonesia's president is expected to remain neutral in the election for his successor.
Significant amounts of social assistance from the government were disbursed during the campaign, far exceeding the amount spent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Widodo distributed funds directly to many states, but this move attracted particular attention.
