JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The camps of the two Indonesian presidential candidates who appear to have lost in an election last month said Thursday they plan to challenge the official results in the Constitutional Court with allegations of widespread fraud.
Indonesians voted on Feb. 14 for a successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term. The election is a three-way race among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.
Subianto is a former general linked to past human rights abuses who had the incumbent president’s tacit backing because Widodo’s son is Subianto’s vice-presidential running mate. Subianto claimed victory on election day after unofficial tallies showed that he won the poll with nearly 60% of the votes.
The General Election Commission has officially tallied over 78% of the votes as of Thursday, with Subianto taking 58.82%, Baswedan 24.50% and Pranowo 16.68%. Baswedan and Pranowo have refused to concede and alleged fraud in the election.