Former Indonesian National Armed Forces general Prabowo Subianto suffered a loss in Indonesia’s presidential elections, but he looks to appeal the results. He has brought into question several irregularities in the voting system.
According to Indonesia’s General Elections Commission, Joko Widodo defeated Subianto in the election on July 9 by a margin exceeding 8 million votes. Widodo is the populist governor of Jakarta. He held 53 percent of the vote to Subianto’s 43 percent. Subianto claims that more than 52,000 voting stations could have fallen victim to a faulty counting process and a questionable way of casting ballots. In all, his campaign calls 21 million votes into question.
Experts agree that Subianto’s chances of succeeding with appeal are very low. The Constitutional Court alone holds the power to order recounts, and they have shut down every legal contest to a presidential election since 2004. Reflyn Harun, a constitutional law expert, said that he “was 99 percent certain” that the justices would rule against Subianto.
Widodo will be sworn in Oct. 20. He has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity since being elected governor of Jakarta in 2012. As mayor of Surakarta, he rebranded the town as the center of Javanese culture and tourism, jumpstarted public transportation with double-decker buses and the rail bus, and built several markets, including an antiques market and home appliances market.
Author: Blaine Martin
Photo: Via Facebook/Prabowo Subianto
