Indonesian presidential candidate Anies Baswedan decides to file a case at the nation’s Constitutional Court contesting the results of February’s election, he revealed to reporters on March 13. Unofficial results unfold Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who had the influential backing of incumbent President Joko Widodo, won the Feb 14 poll with nearly 60 per cent of votes. The national election commission is anticipated to declare the official results by March 20.
Mr Anies said he plans to file a case to the Constitutional Court (MK) after the official results are announced next week, but rejected to show any other in depth data. “We have decided to file to the MK definitely, but the content is not something that we can reveal about,” he said to reporters. The previous Jakarta governor and education minister criticised what he said was a deficiency of state neutrality. “When we are discussing about free and fair elections, this also means that the state takes a neutral position towards any contestants and organises the election in a neutral way.
That has been absent,” he revealed. Mr Anies has formerly been vocal about what he has described as irregularities in the months leading up to the election, involving the massive distribution of social assistance in key electoral areas, like Central Java. “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 giving attention, so we would like to see this also as public education,” he said of the planned court case. “We want to ensure that irregularities do get checked,” he said. The move comes as parties supporting Mr Anies and another presidential candidate, Mr Ganjar Pranowo, have also talked in depth regarding the matter of bringing a parliamentary investigation into the government’s conduct in the lead-up to voting day and alleged election violations.