Indonesian court upholds election victory

Indonesia's Constitutional Court has rejected ex-general Prabowo Subianto's challenge to the presidential election results.

Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo

Joko Widodo. (AAP)

An Indonesian court has upheld the victory of Joko Widodo at last month's presidential election, rejecting claims of widespread cheating from his opponent and ending weeks of political uncertainty in the world's third-biggest democracy.

After two weeks of hearings, the Constitutional Court on Thursday said it was rejecting ex-general Prabowo Subianto's challenge to the results of the July 9 elections.

Chief Justice Hamdan Zoelva said the court was "rejecting the entire petition", after the judges spent seven hours reading out the lengthy verdict.

The verdict cannot be appealed.

It clears the way for Jakarta governor Widodo, known by his nickname Jokowi and the country's first leader from outside the political and military elites, to focus on preparing for government ahead of his October 20 inauguration.

The final day of the long election season was not without drama, however - as the judges started reading their verdict, police fired volleys of tear gas and water cannon at thousands of angry Prabowo supporters near the court.

Three people were injured and four arrested.

Both Prabowo, a top military figure in the era of dictator Suharto with a chequered human rights record, and Widodo, the reform-minded governor of Jakarta, declared victory on the day of the election.

But official results released after a two-week count showed Widodo won a decisive, six-point victory.

The 53-year-old won legions of fans with his down-to-earth approach as Jakarta governor.

But Prabowo - who has been seeking the presidency for a decade - refused to accept the results and his team filed a lengthy complaint against the election commission with the Constitutional Court, which has the final say on poll disputes.

His team alleged fraud occurred at tens of thousands of polling stations, and that election officials failed to order recounts in numerous places where they should have.


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