Indonesia’s Election Results Face Legal Complaints 

Written by Lexi Dean | March 25, 2024

Prabowo Subianto

Indonesia’s election results were confirmed this week, officially recognizing Prabowo Subianto as the country’s new President. Mr. Prabowo will take over at the end of Joko Widodo’s term in October. The campaign that won him the election emphasized commitment to democracy and promise to continue the policies laid out by the current administration. He also seemed to adopt characteristics from Mr. Joko’s success in appealing to the public. He adopted a persona to cater specifically to the younger generation, which is the biggest voting bloc in Indonesia. However, in the past, Mr. Prabowo has questioned the need for democracy. After the election confirmation, the opposing candidate, Anies Baswedan, filed a legal case with the constitutional court regarding the outcome of the election. The defeated candidate claimed there were irregularities in the vote and accused President Joko of unfairly supporting Mr. Prabowo in the election. 
Mr. Anies emphasized in a press conference that the process and result of an election are equally as important for a democracy, and that “when there is a problematic process, there will be problematic results”. The legal case challenges the issues in the policy, regulations, and execution of the election. The legal complaint accuses the current administration of using social assistance, like resources and money handouts, in crucial electoral areas to influence the vote. Mr. Joko and his administration have denied all allegations of unfairly influencing the results amid the accusations of Mr. Joko using state resources to support Mr. Prabowo. Mr. Anies also claims that the president used his influence in court to change a law allowing Mr. Prabowo’s son to become his running mate. The court’s chief justice in this decision was Mr. Joko’s brother-in-law. While it is unlikely that the election results will be protracted, as the court has never ruled in favor of challenging election results, the accusations that there was not an equal playing field for all running candidates put into question Indonesia’s reputation as a fair democracy.