INDONESIA’s General Election Commission formally declared President-elect Prabowo Subianto as the country’s eighth president.
The declaration came after the constitutional court rejected the appeals of two defeated presidential candidates concerning a dispute over the results of the presidential elections in February.
More than 200 million voters representing 75 percent of Indonesia’s population were qualified to vote.
Subianto’s losing rivals demanded a revote and accused him of widespread irregularities and fraud.
However, the majority of the judge panel at the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments, stating that the legal teams of the defeated candidates failed to prove allegations that Subianto’s victory was the result of widespread fraud.
The 72-year-old President-elect, who also serves as the current Defense Minister of Indonesia, will replace Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Subianto teamed up with Widodo’s oldest son, the Mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming. Together, the influential team-up received 96 million votes, or roughly 59 percent of the total votes.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin congratulated Prabowo Subianto for his election victory earlier this week. Earlier this month, the president-elect made a historic visit to China where he pledged to continue Indonesia’s friendly relations with the Chinese government when he formally takes office as the new president.
