Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared victory on Thursday (18 April) in the race to lead the world’s third-largest democracy, saying unofficial results showed his ticket had got 54 percent of the popular vote in Wednesday’s election.
Widodo ran with Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin against former military general Prabowo Subianto, who secured 45 percent of votes, according to unofficial “quick counts” of sample votes by private pollsters.
“We must wait for the official result. But 12 pollsters have given clear results… we convey that the Jokowi-Maruf ticket got 54.5 percent of the vote while Prabowo got 45.5 percent,” Widodo told a news conference in south Jakarta.
The counts from reputable pollsters have proved to be accurate in previous elections, though the official result will not be announced until May.
Prabowo has also claimed victory, citing internal polls as showing he won 62 percent of the vote. He also alleged that cheating had occurred across the country during election.
“We have declared (victory) because we got evidence of widespread cheating at the village, sub-district and district levels across Indonesia,” Prabowo told reporters, minutes after Widodo declared victory.
With Prabowo’s supporters planning to march in central Jakarta after midday prayers on Friday, national police chief Tito Karnavian warned against rallies.
“I appeal to anyone not to mobilise, whether to mobilise people to celebrate victory or mobilise due to dissatisfaction,” said Karnavian, pledging firm action.
At the same news conference, chief security minister Wiranto called for people to avoid “any act of anarchy that breaches the law” while waiting for the official election result.
In 2014, Prabowo had also claimed victory on election day, before contesting the results at the Constitutional Court, which confirmed Widodo’s win.
