Indonesia court upholds President Widodo's victory in April election

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on Thursday confirmed the victory of President Joko Widodo in April’s presidential election, dismissing accusations of cheating by rival Prabowo Subianto.

A panel of nine judges ruled to uphold the official results released last month by the General Elections Commission which showed Widodo had won the race to lead the world’s third-largest democracy with 55.5 percent of votes.

Subianto said on Thursday he accepted the court’s decision and urged his supporters to stay calm.

The retired general said the court’s decision to throw out the opposition’s claims that the vote was rigged was “very disappointing” but said “we will dutifully follow our constitution, the 1945 Constitution,and the applicable laws in this country.”

“Thus we convey that we honour the ruling of the Constitutional Court.”

Widodo himself called for unity in the country after the court confirmed his re-election.

“I urge all Indonesians to reunite to advance the country,” he told reporters at an airport in Jakarta before he was due to depart for the G20 summit in Japan.

- Reuters