A losing candidate in Indonesia’s presidential election demands a revote, alleging fraud

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The camp of Indonesia’s losing presidential candidate filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court on Saturday alleging widespread fraud at the polls and demanded a revote.

The legal team of Ganjar Pranowo, who was backed by the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said it wants the elected president, Prabowo Subianto, and his vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, disqualified.

“We demand the Constitutional Court to order the General Election Commission to administer a revote,” said Todung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer representing Pranowo and his running mate Mohammad Mahfud. He said that nepotism and abuse of power were at the core of the complaint.

He said that the candidacy of Raka, President Joko Widodo’s son, should not have been allowed and alleged that some regional leaders and village heads had been intimidated into voting for him. He also alleged that state funds were used to buy votes.

“We are at a very decisive moment in our lives as a nation and state,” Lubis said. “Democracy is important, the rule of law is important, the constitution is important, and we don’t want it to be trampled on, we don’t want it to be violated.”

Pranowo and Mahfud received 16.5% of votes, the lowest among three contenders in the Feb. 14 polls, according to final results. Subianto, the incumbent defense minister who was accused of human rights abuses under a past dictatorship, won with 58.6%.

The runner-up, former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan, who received 24.9%, also had alleged widespread irregularities and fraud at the polls. His camp filed a legal challenge on Thursday.

Both losing candidates had assaulted Raka’s participation in the election. The Constitutional Court had made an exception to