Indonesia’s Jokowi hails presumptive new leader

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said he had congratulated Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto after unofficial counts showed him winning the presidential election in a single round of voting.

“I have [congratulated him], in person,” the President, popularly known as Jokowi, said.

Mr Prabowo, 72, declared a “victory for all Indonesians” before jubilant supporters, after so-called quick ballot counts by independent pollsters showed he had won almost 60 per cent of the vote.

Mr Prabowo’s win is not yet official – his two rivals have not yet conceded and the official results could take up to a month to be announced.

The early counts, conducted by polling agencies based on millions of ballots sampled from the across the country, have proved accurate in past elections.

Official results are expected by March 20 and, if confirmed, the new president and vice president will take office in October.

“We should not be arrogant. We should not be proud. We should not be euphoric. We still have to be humble. This victory must be a victory for all Indonesian people,” Mr Prabowo said in a speech broadcast on national television from Jakarta’s Istora sports stadium on Wednesday night.

A former rival of Mr Jokowi, who lost two races to him, Mr Prabowo embraced the popular leader to run as his heir.

The wealthy former general even chose Mr Jokowi’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his running mate, a choice that ran up against constitutional age limits and has activists worried about an emerging political dynasty in Indonesia’s 25-yearold democracy.