Indonesia re-elects Joko Widodo, opposition plans legal challenge

Incumbent president Joko Widodo has won last month’s Indonesian election with 55.5% of votes against 44.5% for his challenger, retired General Prabowo Subianto, the election commission’s official count said early on Tuesday.

The official result released by the General Election Commission (KPU) confirmed unofficial counts by private pollsters, giving Widodo a comfortable victory. It could trigger a legal challenge and potential street protests after Prabowo claimed widespread cheating.

Widodo won more than 85 million votes of a total of 154 million cast in the world’s third-largest democracy, though after repeated claims of fraud by the Prabowo campaign an opposition official said it would launch a legal challenge.

“We decided the number two (Prabowo) ticket will lodge a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court,” Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the legal director of Prabowo’s campaign team, told reporters.

On Monday, the election agency dismissed claims of systematic cheating, citing a lack of evidence, and independent observers and analysts have said the poll was free and fair.

But a witness for Prabowo’s campaign team and the leading opposition party refused to sign and validate the official results, which were announced more than a day earlier than expected after the KPU worked into the early hours of Tuesday to finish the vote count.

“We won’t give up in the face of this injustice, cheating, lies, and these actions against democracy,” said Azis Subekti, a witness from Prabowo’s campaign team.

Authorities have tightened security in anticipation of potential civil unrest and have detained dozens of militant Islamists suspected of planning attacks to create mayhem during demonstrations.

The official announcement of the election results, made at just before 2 am on Tuesday morning, appears to have been a strategic move intended to catch opposition protestors unawares.

Supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto had planned a mass demonstration in Jakarta on Wednesday, when the elections body was initially scheduled to announce the results.

Police rolled out barbed wire and readied armoured trucks and water cannons around the KPU. They have also prevented people from across Indonesia traveling to Jakarta en masse to join protests.Indonesia re-elects Joko Widodo, opposition plans legal challenge

Incumbent president Joko Widodo has won last month’s Indonesian election with 55.5% of votes against 44.5% for his challenger, retired General Prabowo Subianto, the election commission’s official count said early on Tuesday.

The official result released by the General Election Commission (KPU) confirmed unofficial counts by private pollsters, giving Widodo a comfortable victory. It could trigger a legal challenge and potential street protests after Prabowo claimed widespread cheating.

Widodo won more than 85 million votes of a total of 154 million cast in the world’s third-largest democracy, though after repeated claims of fraud by the Prabowo campaign an opposition official said it would launch a legal challenge.

“We decided the number two (Prabowo) ticket will lodge a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court,” Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the legal director of Prabowo’s campaign team, told reporters.

On Monday, the election agency dismissed claims of systematic cheating, citing a lack of evidence, and independent observers and analysts have said the poll was free and fair.

But a witness for Prabowo’s campaign team and the leading opposition party refused to sign and validate the official results, which were announced more than a day earlier than expected after the KPU worked into the early hours of Tuesday to finish the vote count.

“We won’t give up in the face of this injustice, cheating, lies, and these actions against democracy,” said Azis Subekti, a witness from Prabowo’s campaign team.

Authorities have tightened security in anticipation of potential civil unrest and have detained dozens of militant Islamists suspected of planning attacks to create mayhem during demonstrations.

The official announcement of the election results, made at just before 2 am on Tuesday morning, appears to have been a strategic move intended to catch opposition protestors unawares.

Supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto had planned a mass demonstration in Jakarta on Wednesday, when the elections body was initially scheduled to announce the results.

Police rolled out barbed wire and readied armoured trucks and water cannons around the KPU. They have also prevented people from across Indonesia traveling to Jakarta en masse to join protests.