Defence minister Prabowo Subianto establishes strong lead
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto had a strong lead in early, unofficial tallies of Indonesia’s presidential race on Wednesday, suggesting the former general may be able to avoid a run-off.
The 72-year-old candidate has presented himself as an heir to immensely popular sitting President Joko Widodo, whose son he chose as running mate.
He’s also a link to the brutal period of dictatorship that ended just over 25 years ago, when he served as a special forces commander in a unit linked to torture and disappearances, allegations Subianto denies.
Widodo’s successor will inherit an economy with impressive growth and ambitious infrastructure projects, including the ongoing transfer of the nation’s capital from congested Jakarta to the frontier island of Borneo at a staggering cost exceeding $30 billion.
The election also has high stakes for the United States and China, since Indonesia has a huge domestic market, natural resources like nickel and palm oil, and diplomatic influence with its Southeast Asian neighbours.
According to early, unofficial tallies conducted by Indonesian polling agencies, Subianto had close to 60% of votes, with 80% of the vote counted in polling places sampled. The official count may not be finished up to a month, but quick counts have provided an accurate picture of the results of all four presidential elections held in Indonesia since it began direct voting in 2004.
To avoid a runoff against his rivals — two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo — Subianto will need more than 50% of all votes cast and at least 20% in each of the country’s provinces.
Indonesians voted on Wednesday in an election that took just six hours. The logistics of the vote across the tropical nation’s 17,000 islands inhabited by 270 million people were daunting: Ballot boxes and ballots were transported by boats, motorcycles, horses and on foot in some of the more far-flung locations.
Aside from the presidency, some 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts were contested by tens of thousands of candidates in one of the world’s largest elections, which authorities said concluded with no major problems. About 10,000 aspirants from 18 political parties eyed the national parliament’s 580 seats alone.