Anies plans to contest presidential poll result in top court

Indonesian presidential candidate Anies Baswedan said yesterday he plans to file a complaint at the country’s Constitutional Court over the results of last month’s election.

Unofficial results show Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who had incumbent President Joko Widodo’s tacit backing, won the Feb 14 poll with nearly 60% of votes. The national election commission is expected to announce the official winner by March 20.

Anies, former governor of Jakarta, said he plans to file a complaint after official results are announced, but did not provide other details.

“We plan to file to (Constitutional Court) for sure but the content is not something that we can disclose,” he told reporters.

“If you talk to most people in the general public I think most people will say that the election is over and done with. The majority are not paying attention, so we would like to see this also as public education.

“We want to make sure that irregularities don’t go unchecked.”

The move comes as parties supporting Anies and another presidential candidate, Ganjar Pranowo, have also discussed launching a parliamentary investigation into the government’s conduct in the lead-up to voting day and alleged election violations.

Though the Constitutional Court typically handles election disputes, Indonesia’s parliament has the power to investigate government policy or implementation of certain regulations and can examine the conduct of public officials, including the president.

Prabowo, an ex-special forces commander, looks to have swept the presidential election on his third try, boosted by the unofficial support of the president, who has faced mounting allegations of ethical breaches and meddling, which his allies deny.