Indonesia's Constitutional Court dismisses appeal against Prabowo's election victory

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Indonesia's Constitutional Court on Monday dismissed an appeal against Prabowo Subianto's victory in the Feb. 14 presidential election, local media reported.

The two rivals of President-elect Prabowo challenged his victory, seeking his disqualification and revote.

Defeated candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo charged that widespread distribution of social aid in key areas had swayed the vote in Prabowo's favor.

Thousands of security personnel from the police and the military were deployed to secure the area just hundreds of meters away from the State Palace in Jakarta.

The defendant in the trial was the General Election Commission, which formally announced Prabowo’s victory on March 20.

Prabowo voluntarily participated in the ongoing trial as “the party of interest” and sent his legal team to the court.

The court, headed by Chief Justice Suharto, also declared that Gibran Rakabuming Raka was a legitimate vice-presidential candidate in response to accusations by rival candidates that the son of President Joko Widodo was not eligible to contest due to favoritism.

Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan petitioned the court to disqualify Gibran over claims that he had received an unfair advantage from the president and his uncle – then Chief Justice Anwar Usman.