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World|politics|August 6, 2014 / 03:33 PM
Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto claims fraud in last month's presidential election

AKIPRESS.COM - Prabowo Subianto Indonesia's losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto launched an attempt to overturn the official election result, telling the nation's highest court last month's vote was tainted by “massive” fraud, Reuters reported.

The Constitutional Court is widely expected to rule against Prabowo and uphold the result of the election, won by Jakarta governor Joko Widodo in the closest presidential election in Indonesia's history. The court must deliver a verdict by August 21, and that decision cannot be appealed.

The legal uncertainty over the election has delayed at least one major economic reform policy as the outgoing government awaits a “definitive” president before deciding on how to address ballooning fuel subsidy costs.

“Some of the [voting] practices that went on only happen in totalitarian countries like North Korea,” Prabowo told the court's nine judges. “Now we are faced with the rape of our democratic rights.”

Hundreds of Prabowo's supporters protested outside the court as the hearing began, delaying traffic in central Jakarta. There were no reports of violence in Jakarta, with more than 20,000 police deployed around the Indonesian capital.

The Elections Commission, which has been commended by international observers for its transparency, declared Widodo the winner by nearly 8.5 million votes, or more than 53 percent of the vote.

Prabowo's lawyers, meanwhile, said they would provide evidence of “mistakes” at 52,000 polling stations and that the former general had actually won the election by around 1 million votes.

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