Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – Incumbent Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is criticizing the opposition's allegations that fraud was being committed by his side for the upcoming election, while electoral institutions state that such accusations were attempts to delegitimize the vote.
Jokowi said anyone who claims that election fraud is occurring should be able to present evidence and report it to the authorities.
"If there was fraud, where did it occur? Please explain and prove it; don't only [make claims]," he said on Sunday evening, adding that all relevant authorities, including the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) and the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP), had mechanisms to ensure fair elections.
The incumbent made the statement days after his rival, Prabowo Subianto, called on his supporters to keep an eye on the election process, saying that Prabowo must win by a margin of 25 percent because there was a potential that some of the votes would be "stolen".
The election process, starting from the vote counting at the polling stations to the final recount at the KPU, would be closely watched in every stage and that the votes would be counted manually, Jokowi said. "The evidence of the recount documents [C1 forms] will be available," he added.
Prabowo campaign officials recently suggested that the mechanisms to address election fraud were insufficient and they threatened to appeal to international organizations and use "people power", namely by gathering a massive number of people in the capital, to resolve any disputes.
Officials from the KPU and Bawaslu, as well as several election watchdogs, also criticized Prabowo's team, saying that there should be no reason to mistrust existing electoral institutions and that such accusations were attempts to delegitimize the election.