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| Ex-General in Indonesia to Challenge Election Results, Citing Irregularities | Ex-General in Indonesia to Challenge Election Results, Citing Irregularities |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| JAKARTA, Indonesia — Prabowo Subianto, the former army general who was declared the loser in Indonesia’s emotionally charged presidential election, will appeal the results to the country’s Constitutional Court, saying that there were widespread voting irregularities, senior advisers to his campaign said Wednesday. | |
| Indonesia’s General Elections Commission said Tuesday night that Joko Widodo, the populist governor of Jakarta, had beaten Mr. Prabowo in the July 9 election by more than eight million votes, with 53 percent of the vote to Mr. Prabowo’s 47 percent. | Indonesia’s General Elections Commission said Tuesday night that Joko Widodo, the populist governor of Jakarta, had beaten Mr. Prabowo in the July 9 election by more than eight million votes, with 53 percent of the vote to Mr. Prabowo’s 47 percent. |
| Mr. Prabowo rejected the results hours before they were even announced and briefly threatened to withdraw his candidacy. His campaign said irregularities at 52,000 polling places, in the casting of ballots and in the counting process, had called 21 million votes into question. | Mr. Prabowo rejected the results hours before they were even announced and briefly threatened to withdraw his candidacy. His campaign said irregularities at 52,000 polling places, in the casting of ballots and in the counting process, had called 21 million votes into question. |
| Mr. Prabowo’s decision to appeal the results had been widely expected, but election and constitutional law experts said it was doubtful that the Constitutional Court would rule in his favor. | Mr. Prabowo’s decision to appeal the results had been widely expected, but election and constitutional law experts said it was doubtful that the Constitutional Court would rule in his favor. |
| The court, which has the sole authority to order recounts or new voting at the provincial level and below, has rejected every legal challenge to a presidential election result since the country began holding direct polls for president in 2004. | The court, which has the sole authority to order recounts or new voting at the provincial level and below, has rejected every legal challenge to a presidential election result since the country began holding direct polls for president in 2004. |
| At a news conference on Wednesday in Jakarta, Mr. Prabowo’s advisers said elections commission officials had dismissed their requests to investigate claims that the number of people who voted at tens of thousands of polling places far exceeded the number of names on the voter rolls. They also contended that Mr. Joko had mysteriously garnered an additional 490,000 votes in West Java Province, an election battleground, during the vote-counting process. | At a news conference on Wednesday in Jakarta, Mr. Prabowo’s advisers said elections commission officials had dismissed their requests to investigate claims that the number of people who voted at tens of thousands of polling places far exceeded the number of names on the voter rolls. They also contended that Mr. Joko had mysteriously garnered an additional 490,000 votes in West Java Province, an election battleground, during the vote-counting process. |
| “The indication of massive fraud and widespread irregularities is overwhelming,” said Tantowi Yahya, a spokesman for Mr. Prabowo’s campaign. | “The indication of massive fraud and widespread irregularities is overwhelming,” said Tantowi Yahya, a spokesman for Mr. Prabowo’s campaign. |
| Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Mr. Prabowo’s brother and chief adviser, said Mr. Prabowo would ask the Constitutional Court to order the elections commission to conduct recounts or new voting at the 52,000 polling places identified by his campaign. “I think that’s the only way we would accept the result,” Mr. Hashim said. | Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Mr. Prabowo’s brother and chief adviser, said Mr. Prabowo would ask the Constitutional Court to order the elections commission to conduct recounts or new voting at the 52,000 polling places identified by his campaign. “I think that’s the only way we would accept the result,” Mr. Hashim said. |
| Mr. Hashim said the campaign did not know whether the 21 million ballots it considered suspect tended to benefit one candidate or the other. | Mr. Hashim said the campaign did not know whether the 21 million ballots it considered suspect tended to benefit one candidate or the other. |
| Officials with the elections commission could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday, but they had previously rejected assertions by the Prabowo campaign that there were widespread irregularities in the election. | Officials with the elections commission could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday, but they had previously rejected assertions by the Prabowo campaign that there were widespread irregularities in the election. |
| “I don’t think he could present any compelling proof that would trigger revoting at 52,000 polling stations,” said Muhammad Qodari, executive director of Indo Barometer, a polling firm. “I’m very skeptical that he has any strong evidence.” | “I don’t think he could present any compelling proof that would trigger revoting at 52,000 polling stations,” said Muhammad Qodari, executive director of Indo Barometer, a polling firm. “I’m very skeptical that he has any strong evidence.” |
| Mr. Joko, 53, is scheduled to be sworn in on Oct. 20, completing a political rise from modest beginnings to the presidency of the world’s fourth most populous nation. Mr. Prabowo, 62, was a son-in-law of Suharto, the authoritarian president forced to resign in 1998 after 32 years in power. | Mr. Joko, 53, is scheduled to be sworn in on Oct. 20, completing a political rise from modest beginnings to the presidency of the world’s fourth most populous nation. Mr. Prabowo, 62, was a son-in-law of Suharto, the authoritarian president forced to resign in 1998 after 32 years in power. |