Indonesia's constitutional court backs Widodo as Prabowo Subianto's supporters stage protest

Indonesia's highest court unanimously upheld last month's presidential election result yesterday, paving the way for Joko Widodo to take over as the next leader of the world's third largest democracy.

The Constitutional Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto to overturn the result that he believed was tainted by widespread cheating. The verdict cannot be appealed.

"The court rejects ... all applications from the applicant [Prabowo] by all nine judges," said Constitutional Court chief Hamdan Zoelva.

The Elections Commission last month declared Widodo the winner by nearly 8.5 million votes, or more than 53 per cent of the vote, in the closest presidential poll in Indonesia's history.

"According to the court, the reasoning that has been submitted by the petitioner is not reasonable, according to the law," justice Muhammad Alim said, striking down Prabowo's allegation that votes had been changed.

The court also found that election officials' early opening of some ballot boxes was done in a transparent way.

Prabowo, 62, a special-forces commando during the rule of his former father-in-law, dictator Suharto, questioned procedures at about 59,000 polling stations and wanted repolling in as many as six provinces.

Ensuring a calm transfer of power is crucial for Indonesia as it seeks to assure investors.