Indonesia Stays Calm as Court Hears Prabowo's Election Challenge
Indonesia on Alert as Court Examines Prabowo's Election Dispute
(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian authorities deployed thousands of armed troops around the country’s Constitutional Court in Jakarta as it began a preliminary hearing into a petition challenging the official presidential election result that handed incumbent Joko Widodo a second term.
The court began examining the evidence submitted by Prabowo Subianto on Friday to determine if it needs to hold a trial. Prabowo, as Subianto is commonly known, is challenging the official results of the April 17 election which showed Jokowi, as Widodo is known, winning by 11 percentage points. The former general wants the court to disqualify Jokowi, annul the result and order a fresh vote.
The heightened security alert is to prevent any violent protests by Prabowo’s supporters after rioting in Jakarta following the announcement of the official result last month left at least 7 people dead and hundreds injured, according to Coordinating Minister for Political, Justice and Security Affairs Wiranto.
Even though Prabowo had appealed to his supporters not to hold any rallies during the court hearing, almost 50,000 police and military personnel were deployed across the capital to ensure the day passes off peacefully, according to Argo Yuwono, a spokesman for Jakarta police.
Fair Trial
“The security apparatus is always vigilant in maintaining security in view of what has happened and what’s been anticipated so that the public remains calm,” Wiranto said in a statement. “We welcome Prabowo’s appeal to his supporters to not flock to the court and respect the legal process.”
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Prabowo’s counsel Bambang Widjojanto urged the court on Friday to “hold a fair trial to deliver justice to the people of Indonesia.” The declaration of Jokowi as the winner by the General Elections Commission is invalid and unconstitutional as the authority failed to conduct a transparent election, he said.
Prabowo, who unsuccessfully challenged his loss to Jokowi in 2014, has repeatedly alleged voter fraud and counting irregularities, charges rejected by the election commission.
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The government will not impose any curbs on social media like it did during last month’s rioting as authorities have successfully clamped down on websites spreading hoaxes related to the election outcome, Communications Minister Rudiantara said by phone.
The court will resume examination of the evidence on Tuesday before deciding on a full trail and deliver its ruling on June 28.
To contact the reporters on this story: Arys Aditya in Jakarta at aaditya5@bloomberg.net;Tassia Sipahutar in Jakarta at ssipahutar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net;Thomas Kutty Abraham at tabraham4@bloomberg.net
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