Stefani Wijaya, Jakarta – Mohammad Mahfud MD became the first candidate to congratulate rivals Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka after the Constitutional Court on Monday confirmed their legitimate victory in the Feb. 14 presidential election.
The official vote tally of the election was announced on March 20 in which Prabowo and his running mate Gibran won with 58.58 percent of the vote.
Mahfud, the running mate of presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo, didn't immediately congratulate his rivals pending a legal motion with the Constitutional Court.
"Congratulations to Mr. Prabowo and Brother Gibran on the court ruling issued today and good luck with your next venture. I sincerely hope this nation will advance further," Mahfud said in Jakarta.
Himself is a former Constitutional Court chief justice, Mahfud underlined that the ruling is final and binding.
"This is the most important statement from us, that we accept the verdict and wish them good luck with their job. Let's work together to take care of this nation," he added.
Mahfud claimed that for him, winning the legal motion wasn't the most important thing, saying that the court proceedings were a crucial platform to debate controversies surrounding the election the world could see.
"Therefore, once the verdict was read out, we accepted that," he said.
Mahfud resigned from his position as the chief security minister to contest the election with a permit from President Joko Widodo, who is Gibran's father.
His campaign team petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul the election and order a revote over allegations of widespread voter fraud and the government's favoritism towards Prabowo and Gibran.
A similar motion was filed by presidential candidate Anies Baswedan and his ticket mate Muhaimin Iskandar.
The court ruled in a 5-3 vote that the plaintiffs had failed to produce convincing evidence to support their claims and rejected their motion in its entirety,
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/mahfud-congratulates-prabowo-and-gibran-on-election-wi