Indonesia elections: political parties react to allegations of vote stuffing

On Thursday, as many as 50,000 ballots marked in favour of President Joko Widodo and an electoral ally were discovered in Malaysia

His supporters have dismissed the scandal as a smear campaign, but the opposition candidate’s camp say it proves the vote is rigged

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Supporters shout and gesture during a campaign rally for Prabowo Subianto. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:32pm, 12 Apr 2019Updated: 8:52pm, 12 Apr 2019

Indonesia is awaiting the results of an investigation into allegations of electoral fraud ahead of next week’s general election.

On Thursday, up to 50,000 ballots marked in favour of current Indonesian President Joko Widodo and electoral ally Davin Kirana were found stuffed inside diplomatic bags in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Arief Budiman, chief of Indonesia’s General Elections Commission, said on Friday that it would release its findings into the alleged fraud “today”.

The controversy has prompted supporters of Prabowo Subianto, Widodo’s opponent, to call the election rigged, while the president’s camp has dismissed the supposed fraud as a smear campaign designed to sully his image.

Irawan Ronodipuro, director of foreign affairs on Prabowo’s election campaign, said that the discovery of the ballots showed that voter fraud was not “only a hoax” or caused by “excessive fear”.

On behalf of Prabowo, he demanded that Rusdi Kirana, Indonesia’s ambassador to Malaysia and Davin’s father, be stripped of his credentials.