After a tense campaign marked by incessant lies and smears, the fate of Indonesia is now in the hands of the General election Commission (KPU) , which on July 22 will announce whether seventh president of the country will be "Jokowi" Widodo and former general Prabowo Subianto Joko.
Quick account by credible polling agencies show Jokowi won the election on July 9 by around 5%, but a handful of less credible agencies awarded a thin victory Prabowo, who claimed victory and insisted that losing is not an option.
Indonesians must now wait for the KPU and its regional offices for counting counts more than 478,000 country's polling stations. There are widespread fears that the KPU members could be bribed to manipulate the data, resulting in the election goes to the losing candidate. Some polling stations were led by Prabowo and have no observers team Jokowi present to consider voting.
The KPU has no great record of integrity. Many of its members were jailed for corruption. Complaints about electoral violations should be addressed to the Election Monitoring Agency (Bawaslu), who does not have either an excellent reputation.
The Organization Board of Election Ethics (DKPP) recently declared April 9 general election of Indonesia as the worst in the history of the country because of widespread cheating. No fewer than 98 employees of the KPU and Bawaslu branches were dismissed after being found guilty of violations.
DKPP President Jimly Asshidique feared that other crimes would take place during the presidential election. He said many officials and heads of regions were found to have involved in the elections, but the Council can not reject them.
The Commission of Corruption Eradication (KPK) has warned the KPU and Bawaslu not act in concert with each candidate trying to buy victory in the presidential election. "This issue affects the entire nation. Do not play with the fate of the people. The Commission does not sleep," said KPK spokesman Johan Budi.
There were many reports of buying votes on election day, with people receiving Rp.20,000 to Rp.50,000 to choose a candidate. These bribes are known as "search" because they are delivered early. Surprisingly, July 6 Prabowo told his followers that they could accept the "dawn raid" money -. As long as they voted for him
Four agencies voting rapid account which gave the victory to Prabowo are now checked by the Ethics Committee of the inquiry and the Indonesian public opinion Association, seeks to determine if there was a manipulation of figures.
There were interesting results quick counts. Jokowi won local polling stations in some Prabowo supporters of foreground, including musician Ahmad Dhani and former Reform Amien Rais. Meanwhile, Prabowo has scored the most votes in a special prison for corruption criminals in Bandung.
Prabowo is still supported by television networks owned by its lenders, including tvOne of Aburizal Bakrie, who became a laughingstock on social media.
The presidential campaign was the dirtiest Indonesia has ever known, with most of the mud being slung to Jokowi. "Black campaign" by supporters of Prabowo included using a photo of a dead or dying woman and falsely claiming she was beaten by "anarchists, communists" supporters of Jokowi. There was also heavy religious connotations of intimidation, such as claims that Prabowo is a better Muslim and thus enjoys divine support.
Those who have taken a stand against bullying were punished. Rondonuwu Raymond, producer of the program Seputar new network for Indonesia RCTI, was transferred to a research division after refusing to broadcast what he described as a report "baseless" alleging the team Jokowi had conspired with the KPU. RCTI part MNC media group owned by Hary Tanoesoedibjo, supporting Prabowo.
After the winner is declared by the KPU, the loser can then challenge the results before the Constitutional Court, including former chief Akil Mochtar recently was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes to fix many disputed regional elections. Given the discussion at the national level, it will probably be easier to steal the presidential election by the KPU.
The President of KPU holder is Husni Kamil Manik. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will leave in October, can go out in glory if he guides the KPU to make an honest decision. Or it can end his reign in ignominy if he makes the election results to be stolen.