Indonesia - February 2024

Indonesia held general elections on 14 February 2024 for president, vice president, both houses of parliament and local and regional offices. Final election results released on 21 March showed Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto and his vice presidential running mate Gibran Rakabuming, the son of outgoing President Joko Widodo, won 55.5 per cent of the votes on 82.39 per cent turnout. Prabowo's PDIP won 19.33 per cent of the votes in parliament, followed by Gerindra (12.57 per cent) and Golkar (12.31 per cent). The gender makeup of the incoming parliament is not yet available, but Indonesia’s gender quota requires that 30 per cent of candidates, and every third candidate on an electoral list, be a woman. The losing presidential candidates filed legal challenges to disqualify Prabowo and re-run the election, a not uncommon practice in Indonesian elections.

Sources: Al Jazeera, The Diplomat, Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia, Reuters

Indonesian civil society organizations and opposition parties have called for a parliamentary investigation into the 14 February general election and threatened to file cases with the Constitutional Court, alleging abuses of state resources by outgoing President Joko Widodo and criticizing the conduct of the General Elections Commission (KPU). The allegations include pressure on local politicians to support Prabowo in exchange for state funds, tampering with overseas votes, vote-buying, social media manipulation, and “logistical and administrative problems” in seven provinces, a required re-vote at over two thousand polling stations, and reports of destroyed ballots. Critics have also targeted the KPU, alleging a lack of transparency. Accusations of “suspicious” preliminary vote counts from civil society and political parties led the KPU to take its running tabulations offline on 5 March, prompting further criticism. Final vote tallies are due 20 March.

Sources: Jakarta Post, Fulcrum, East Asia Forum, Benar News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Washington Post