Indonesia Stays Calm as Court Hears Prabowo's Election Challenge
- Prabowo contesting official result showing Jokowi re-election
- Security tightened as Jakarta was rocked by riots last month
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Indonesian authorities deployed thousands of armed troops around the country’s Constitutional Court in Jakarta as it began a preliminary hearing into a petition challenging the official presidential election result that handed incumbent Joko Widodo a second term.
The court began examining the evidence submitted by Prabowo Subianto on Friday to determine if it needs to hold a trial. Prabowo, as Subianto is commonly known, is challenging the official results of the April 17 election which showed Jokowi, as Widodo is known, winning by 11 percentage points. The former general wants the court to disqualify Jokowi, annul the result and order a fresh vote.