Subianto leads Indonesia presidential poll race
JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has a strong lead in the race for the presidency of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, preliminary results collated by government-approved pollsters showed yesterday after polls closed.
With around 60 percent of sample votes tallied in so-called “quick counts” that have previously proven reliable, two independent pollsters showed Subianto on more than 55 percent of the vote, which would be enough to avoid a second-round run-off. Official results are expected next month.
The 72-year-old is the clear favorite after a campaign mixing populist rhetoric with pledges to continue the policies of former Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who has presided over steady economic growth, but reached the constitutional two-term limit.
“The hope is to win,” Subianto told reporters before voting in the city of Bogor.
Nearly 205 million people were eligible to vote for Subianto or his rivals – former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo – in what is just the fifth presidential election since the end of Suharto’s dictatorship in 1998.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. in the easternmost region of Papua and closed at 1 p.m. at the other end of the country in jungle-clad Sumatra.
A logistical feat involving more than 800,000 polling stations and 20,000 seats up for grabs saw planes, helicopters, speedboats and even cows used to cart ballots around the sprawling archipelago of nearly 280 million people.
In Papua’s Timika city, officials inspected makeshift polling stations built from logs, metal sheets and palm leaves as voters arrived to eye candidate lists.
In the capital Jakarta, a thunderstorm deluged 34 polling stations, according to the city’s disaster mitigation agency.
General Election Commissioner Yulianto Sudrajat told AFP polling stations that opened late because of bad weather could stay open longer due to the “extenuating circumstances.”
“The service will be available, as long as there are still ballots,” he said.
Official results are not expected until March, but so-called quick counts from government-approved pollsters – shown to be reliable in the past – are expected to give an indication of the winner later Wednesday.
‘Decisive leader’
Consultant Debbie Sianturi was one of those determined to vote earlier in the day.
“I want to have a leader that will continue the democracy,” the 57-year-old said.
Another said Subianto’s experience made him a popular candidate.
“He has a military background, so I think he will be a decisive leader,” said Afhary Firnanda, a 28-year-old office worker in Jakarta.
Subianto needs to claim more than 50 percent of the overall vote and at least a fifth of ballots cast in over half the country’s 38 provinces to secure the presidency.
If he falls short, a second-round vote will be held in June.
Baswedan, seen as the favorite to challenge Subianto in that event, told supporters to help ensure a fair vote in the graft-ridden country, where voters dip their fingers in halal ink.