Indonesia election: Prabowo Subianto to challenge result

Prabowo Subianto, a former general who served under Suharto, says the poll was hit by fraud

The losing candidate in Indonesia's presidential election, former general Prabowo Subianto, will challenge the result in court, his spokesman says.

On Tuesday Joko Widodo, the former Jakarta governor, was declared the winner of the 9 July poll with 53% of the vote.

Mr Subianto pulled out of the count just before the result was declared, alleging massive fraud.

His spokesman said he was preparing a challenge in the Constitutional Court.

The Election Commission announced on Tuesday that Mr Widodo - widely known as Jokowi - won 53.15% of the vote to Mr Subianto's 46.85%.

It followed a vote-counting period in which both candidates raised concerns about voting irregularities.

But Mr Widodo's winning margin of 6% win is seen as decisive by analysts.

They say that even if Mr Subianto's claim of electoral fraud in certain areas proved to be true, this would be unlikely to change the overall results.

'Free and fair'

About 130 million votes were cast on 9 July following an intense election campaign.

Politics in Indonesia have traditionally been dominated by establishment figures from the political elite and military.

But Mr Widodo, a former furniture-maker who grew up in a small village, has promised a decisive break with Indonesia's authoritarian past and better social welfare for the poor.

His rival Mr Subianto is a former general closely associated with the traditional elite. He has faced multiple questions over alleged human rights abuses.

The court is not expected to rule on Mr Subianto's legal challenge until mid-August.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Indonesia on "free and fair" elections and said Washington looked forward to expanding ties.

Australia also congratulated Mr Widodo, saying ties with Indonesia were "extraordinarily important to us".

The relationship between the two nations has been badly hit by allegations of Australian spying and the ongoing differences over how to tackle people-smuggling.