"Moreover, it showed pictures of people, prominent figures, local officials, and regional administrations. who had been directed to provide logistics support for a certain candidate. That had disturbed me..."
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Hairul Anas Suaidi, a witness of the legal team of Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair, claimed that a pre-election training held by the Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Ma'ruf Amin campaign team indoctrinated that fraudulence was part of democracy.

"I was a legislative candidate of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), supporter of the no. 1 presidential candidate (Jokowi). I was later assigned to attend a training for (election) witnesses," Suaidi revealed while addressing a judge panel of the Constitutional Court (MK) here on early Thursday.

During the training, one speaker gave a slideshow presentation of training materials that read fraudulence is part of democracy.

Suaidi, an IT expert graduating from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and nephew of former MK judge Mahfud MD, expressed shock and angst during the training.

Another material pertained to deploying officers to ensure that a certain candidate emerges victorious, he emphasized.

"Moreover, it showed pictures of people, prominent figures, local officials, and regional administrations, who had been directed to provide logistics support to a certain candidate. That had disturbed me, and finally, I decided to support (the candidate) no. 2 (Prabowo Subianto)," he remarked.

At the court hearing, Bambang Widjojanto, the legal team leader of the Subianto team, posed a question to Suaidi on whether the training covered materials to win millions of votes.

The witness replied in the negative, saying no details were available to that end, but the training solely covered election strategies and campaign means. For instance, to help the No. 1 candidate pair win, the No 2. candidate pair was identified as following an extreme ideology and having a radical outlook.

The MK has been holding hearings on June 14-28, 2019, over a legal suit filed by the Subianto-Uno pair, who have challenged the presidential election results announced by the General Election Commission (KPU) on May 22, 2019.

After the announcement that fueled a riot that led to eight deaths in Jakarta, Incumbent Jokowi declared victory, but Subianto rejected the results and decided to file a legal suit to challenge the KPU's election results.

Indonesia held simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on April 17, 2019, in which Jokowi and Prabowo once again went head-to-head.

Related news: Lawyer accuses Jokowi of using state budget for campaign
Related news: Ma'ruf Amin not guilty of flouting election rules: KPU lawyer

Translator: Dyah Dwi Astuti, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
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