Indonesia opposition plans legal challenge

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo comfortably won re-election in last month's poll, an official count showed on Tuesday, throwing the spotlight on his opponent Prabowo Subianto who has refused to concede defeat after claiming widespread cheating.

The result released by the General Election Commission (KPU) confirms unofficial counts by private pollsters in the April 17 election, giving Widodo a 55.5 percent share of votes against 44.5 percent for retired general Prabowo.

Widodo won more than 85 million votes of a total of 154 million casts in the world's third-largest democracy, though after repeated claims of fraud by the Prabowo campaign an opposition official said it would launch a legal challenge.

“We decided the number two (Prabowo) ticket will lodge a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court,” Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the legal director of Prabowo's campaign team, told reporters.

Earlier, a witness for the team and the leading opposition party refused to sign and validate the official results, announced more than a day earlier than expected, after the agency worked into the early hours of Tuesday.

“We won't give up in the face of this injustice, cheating, lies, and these actions against democracy,” said Azis Subekti, the witness.

On Monday, the election agency dismissed claims of systematic cheating, citing a lack of evidence, and independent observers and analysts have said the poll was free and fair.

It was not immediately clear if planned protests by Prabowo's supporters would go ahead, but in a video ahead of the result, he had urged supporters to be peaceful.

(Cover: Indonesia's presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto speaks as his opponent Joko Widodo listens during a television debate ahead of the next general election in Jakarta, March 30, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

Source(s): Reuters