Losing Indonesian presidential candidate Ganjar calls for new election

JAKARTA - The legal team of losing Indonesia presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo filed a complaint at the country's constitutional court on March 23, calling for a fresh election and disqualification of the winning team of defence minister Prabowo Subianto.

Mr Ganjar, a former Central Java governor supported by the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), received 16 per cent of the votes in February's election, behind defence minister Prabowo, who won almost 60 per cent of the votes, and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who received 25 per cent, an official tally showed.

Mr Prabowo is slated to be inaugurated in October.

In a statement, Todung Mulya Lubis, a lawyer with Mr Ganjar's legal team, said Mr Prabowo's disqualification was being called for on the grounds that his registration had violated legal and ethical provisions and that therefore the election should be re-run.

Mr Todung said the election was tainted with nepotism that resulted in "a coordinated abuse of power", he told reporters after filing the case at the constitutional court.

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A decision in 2023 by the constitutional court to change eligibility rules allowed Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of outgoing president Joko Widodo (known locally as Jokowi), to become Mr Prabowo's running-mate. Mr Jokowi's brother-in-law was chief justice at the time of the ruling.

The legal team of the other losing candidate, Mr Anies Baswedan, also filed a case, calling on March 21 for the court to order an election re-run that excludes Mr Gibran, alleging his last-minute inclusion unfairly swayed the vote.

Mr Ganjar's team also complained of a "politicisation of social aid", without elaborating, and have alleged abuse of the election