Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit by the campaign team of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno against the Elections Supervisory Agency's (Bawaslu) ruling on alleged election campaign violations.
The team of justices presided by justice Supandi argued that the plaintiffs – Prabowo's campaign team chairman and Gerindra Party politician Djoko Santoso as well as National Mandate Party (PAN) deputy chairman Ahmad Hanafi Rais, did not have proper legal standing in the case.
"Moreover, the ruling in question did not meet the criteria to be the object of a general election administerial dispute," the bench argued, as stipulated in a copy of the verdict obtained by The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit with the Supreme Court on June 12 to challenge Bawaslu's ruling on their report alleging "structured, systematic and massive campaign violations" by the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Ma'ruf Amin ticket. The agency declined to follow up on the report in May, citing a lack of evidence.
Prabowo's campaign team had argued that Bawasu's reluctance to follow up the report violated the law; therefore, they requested the Supreme Court annul the ruling.
Apart from rejecting that request, the bench ordered the plaintiffs to pay an administration fee for the lawsuit amounting to Rp 1 million (US$71).
The Supreme Court ruling was issued on Wednesday, a day prior to the expected Constitutional Court's ruling on the presidential election dispute.