Contested Victory: Post-Election Legal and Political Challenges
Summary
- There are two categories of fraud: First, manipulation of voters and votes on voting day and after the voting day. Second, conditioning efforts before voting day. What the Constitutional Court (MK) actually examines is manipulation.
- The MK needs quantitative data in adjudicating election disputes. When the margin of victory is substantial, as seen with Prabowo and Gibran, courts may hesitate to order a repeat vote or disqualify the Prabowo-Gibran pair, even if fraud is suspected.
- Although their chances are slim on paper, the Anies and Ganjar camps reportedly remain optimistic that the Constitutional Court will accept their lawsuits. This is because since being led by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, the MK has often shown "democratic breakthroughs" in its decisions.
- The possibility of a curveball from the Constitutional Court decision is expected to revive plans to roll out Inquiry Rights in the DPR, which are currently languishing.