Prabowo ‘won’t accept result’ until cheating claims checked

(From left) Outgoing President Yudhoyono with presidential candidates Prabowo and Jokowi during their meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

 

 

Published: 4:03 AM, July 21, 2014

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JAKARTA — The Indonesian ex-general widely thought to have narrowly lost this month’s bitterly contested presidential election will not accept the official result until allegations of cheating are investigated, one of his top aides said yesterday.

The rejection by Mr Prabowo Subianto is certain to raise concerns of a protracted wrangle that could undermine confidence in South-east Asia’s biggest economy, or even trigger violence that has so far been almost entirely absent from this election.

By law, the Elections Commission (KPU) must announce the result by July 22. One commissioner told Reuters there was no need to delay the result announcement.

After Mr Prabowo had previously insisted that he would abide by the KPU’s official result of the July 9 election, he yesterday accused the KPU of failing to properly investigate alleged cheating at the polls.

“If they don’t, then that is a crime. This very much calls into question the legitimacy of the whole process,” the former special forces commander told a hastily called news conference in a Jakarta hotel after meeting his key coalition partners.

Mr Fadli Zon, the vice-secretary general of Mr Prabowo’s Gerindra party, said there was evidence of many instances of cheating. 

“We ask the election committee to solve this problem with recounting,” he said. “We will not accept (the result),” he said, demanding that the announcement be delayed until the problem was resolved.

Asked if the Prabowo camp was challenging the credibility of the Elections Commission, Mr Zon said: “Yes, of course.” The Prabowo camp has sounded an increasingly shrill note in the wake of the election, accusing opponent, Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, of jumping the gun by claiming victory shortly after the polls closed.

Both camps have suggested the other was cheating. However, independent election watchers have praised the Elections Commission for its handling of polling and the transparency during the nearly two-week counting process.