Indonesia’s constitutional court hears Prabowo’s claim that Widodo election win was rigged

The losing presidential candidate has alleged the April 17 polls were marked by ‘massive and systematic’ electoral fraud

Official results show Widodo won 55.5 per cent of the votes, while Prabowo now claims he won the election by securing 52 per cent

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Supporters of defeated presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto – who claimed the April 17 election was rigged, spawning deadly rioting last month – outside the constitutional court in Jakarta. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:25pm, 14 Jun 2019Updated: 11:37pm, 14 Jun 2019

Indonesia’s losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto on Friday asked the Constitutional Court to annul President Joko Widodo’s election victory, claiming there had been “massive and systematic” electoral fraud and “abuse of power”.

Prabowo’s legal team also asked the court to declare the former general and his running mate Sandiaga Uno as the president and vice-president from 2019 to 2024.

Security for the first day of hearings was provided by a 48,000-strong police and military presence, in an effort to prevent a repeat of last month’s riots in Jakarta that were triggered by Prabowo’s supporters. Nine people died in the violence and hundreds more were wounded.

On Tuesday, only 50-odd people showed up to protest, carrying placards that said “People Need Justice”.

“We asked that the candidate No 1 be disqualified or … for the elections to be repeated,” said Prabowo’s lawyer, Denny Indrayana, referring to Widodo.

“The police, intelligence [agencies] and bureaucracy have been involved. We ask for witness protection for the witnesses and experts who will be coming here.”