Indonesia's Anies plans to contest election results in top court

[March 13, 2024]   By Kate Lamb
 
JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian presidential candidate Anies Baswedan plans to file a case at the country's Constitutional Court contesting the results of last month's election, he told reporters on Wednesday.

Presidential candidate and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan speaks during a televised debate ahead of the general election at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 4, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

Unofficial results show Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who had the influential backing of incumbent President Joko Widodo's, won the Feb. 14 poll with nearly 60% of votes. The national election commission is expected to announce the official results by March 20.

Anies said he plans to file a case to the Constitutional Court (MK) after the official results are announced next week, but declined to provide further details.

"We plan to file to the MK for sure but the content is not something that we can disclose," he said.

The former governor and education minister criticized what he said was a lack of state neutrality.

"When we are talking about free and fair elections this also means that the state takes a neutral position toward any contestants and organizes the election in a neutral way. That has been absent," he said.

Anies has previously been vocal about what he has described as irregularities in the months leading up to the election, including the massive distribution of social assistance in key electoral regions, such as Central Java.

"If you talk to most people in the general public I think most people will say that the election is over and done with. The majority are not paying attention, so we would like to see this also as public education," he said of the planned court case.

"We want to make sure that irregularities don't go unchecked," he added.

The move comes as parties supporting Anies and another presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, have also discussed launching a parliamentary investigation into the government's conduct in the lead-up to voting day and alleged election violations.

Though the Constitutional Court typically handles election disputes, Indonesia's parliament has the power to investigate government policy or implementation of certain regulations and can examine the conduct of public officials, including the president.

Prabowo, an ex-special forces commander, looks to have swept the presidential election on his third try, boosted by the unofficial support of the president, who has faced mounting allegations of ethical breaches and meddling, which his allies deny.

(Reporting by Kate Lamb; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Michael Perry)

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