22-4-2024 (JAKARTA) Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has delivered a resounding verdict, rejecting petitions contesting the outcome of February’s high-stakes presidential election. The ruling effectively secures Prabowo Subianto’s victory, quelling uncertainties that had lingered in the world’s third-largest democracy.
In a decisive judgment, Chief Justice Suhartoyo declared, “The Constitutional Court rejected the request to dispute the results of the 2024 presidential-vice presidential election. The applicant’s petition has no legal grounds.” This dismissal extends to the challenges mounted by Prabowo’s rivals, former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and ex-Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, whose claims of irregularities were found to be “legally groundless.”
The court’s ruling clears the path for Prabowo, currently serving as defense minister, to assume the presidency in October, marking a pivotal transition in the nation’s political landscape. Prabowo secured a convincing 58.6% of the votes in the February 14 presidential poll, outpacing his two opponents.
In the aftermath of the official results announced in late March, Anies and Ganjar mounted a legal challenge, calling for a revote and alleging that Prabowo’s victory was largely driven by electoral fraud perpetrated by incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Their contention centered around Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming, who was nominated as Prabowo’s running mate.
The gravity of the allegations prompted the Constitutional Court to summon four cabinet ministers to testify regarding Jokowi’s distribution of social aid during the campaign period, which the losing candidates claimed benefited Prabowo’s camp.
Even before the campaign period commenced in November, concerns surrounding the neutrality of the electoral process had already surfaced. Prabowo’s popularity surged after nominating the 36-year-old Gibran as his running mate, a move that required a Constitutional Court ruling to amend the minimum age requirement of 40 for vice-presidential candidates. Notably, the then-Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who delivered the enabling verdict, is Jokowi’s brother-in-law.
Jokowi, who assumed the presidency in 2014 and secured re-election in 2019, was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
During the campaign trail, Prabowo pledged to maintain continuity with Jokowi’s major policies, including the ambitious relocation of the nation’s capital from Jakarta to the newly constructed city of Nusantara on the island of Borneo. He also vowed to further develop Indonesia’s domestic mineral processing industry, reducing the nation’s reliance on exporting raw materials abroad.
