JAKARTA: The Indonesian Defence Minister and ex-army general, who lost two previous bids for the presidency, said he secured about 58 percent of the votes, according to four survey firms that conducted “quick count” sampling at polling stations across the country. The proportion of votes counted varied from 86 to 95 percent on Wednesday.
The independent pollsters conducting the counts, which have been reliable in previous presidential elections since Indonesia adopted direct voting in 2004, showed Prabowo’s rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo lagging behind with about 25 percent and 17 percent of the votes, respectively.
The election commission’s official count was much slower and showed Prabowo leading with 57.7 percent of votes, based on about 6 percent of ballots tallied.
Prabowo thanked his supporters for the quick results at a stadium in Jakarta, where he was joined by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of outgoing President Joko Widodo. Both wore matching pale blue checked shirts.
He urged his supporters to remain humble and said this victory belonged to all Indonesians. His speech was aired on national television.
As the presidential race remained too close to call, both Anies and Ganjar refused to admit defeat and asked their supporters to be patient until the official announcement, which is due by March 20.
Anies said he respected the people’s choice, speaking to the media at his campaign base after Prabowo declared himself the winner.
Meanwhile, Ganjar’s team alleged widespread electoral fraud and said they were looking into the reports. However, they did not present any proof to support their accusation.
A candidate must secure more than half of the votes and at least a fifth of the votes in half of the provinces to win in the first round. Otherwise, the top two candidates will face each other in a second round in June.
With the backing of Widodo, also known as Jokowi, Prabowo entered the election as the favorite.
Prabowo chose Gibran, the young mayor of Solo and Widodo’s nephew, as his vice-presidential candidate after a disputed court decision on age requirements that involved Widodo’s relative as a judge.
Prabowo and Gibran promised to follow Jokowi’s footsteps, who had a high popularity of around 80 percent but could not run for a third term due to constitutional limits.
They will take over an economy that expanded by more than 5 percent last year, and a range of bold infrastructure plans, such as moving the capital from Jakarta to Borneo island.
