Indonesia faces crises after elections

26 May 2019

Indonesia faces crises after elections

The result for the presidential election in Indonesia was declared on 21st May 2019.

Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, the current president, won against his rival, Prabowo Subianto, with 55% of the votes.

Prabowo Subianto, a former military general and his supporters have, however, claimed that he lost due to unfair means deployed by Widodo.

Protests against the election result

On 22nd May, thousands of people who support Subianto surrounded the area near the Elections Oversight Body in the capital, Jakarta.
 	While the protests started peacefully, it became violent later.

20,000 police were deployed to stop the protesters and public transport routes were shut down around Jakarta.

The government also banned social media in some areas to avoid the spread of fake news.

President Widodo has condemned the protests, saying he would not “tolerate anyone who tries to undermine the security and democracy processes and undermine the unity of this country”.

Subianto has also requested his supporters on Twitter to avoid violence and trust the legal system.

The protests have resulted in injury to over 200 people and 7 people have died. Many people have also been arrested.

The capital and security forces remain on high alert.

What next?

Indonesian democracy allows candidates to challenge election results if they deem the race to be won by unfair means. Subianto has filed a challenge against the result on 24th May in the Constitutional Court. The court will hear the evidence and give a final judgment on 28th June 2019.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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