15 February 2024
Prabowo Subianto, a former Indonesian military general, businessman, and defense minister in President Joko Widodo’s Cabinet, promised in a victory speech on Wednesday to be the leader for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or religion, as quick vote count results indicated his victory in the presidential election, local media reported.
According to an Anadolu report, all major pollsters reported a victory for Prabowo with 57%-59% of the vote, based on samples collected from 2,000 polling stations across the country, the local daily Jakarta Globe reported.
All major pollsters project that his two rivals, former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, will receive 24%-26% and 15%-17% of the votes, respectively.
“We are grateful that the quick count results from all survey agencies indicate a clear win for Prabowo and Gibran,” an all smiles Prabowo told thousands of his jubilant supporters at Istora Sports Stadium in the capital Jakarta, where he was flanked by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko Widodo.
Conciliatory message
Delivering a conciliatory message to his rival candidates, Parabowo said, “The campaign period is over” and “strong words and hostile approach” are things of the past now.
“We will serve as the president and vice president for all Indonesian people. I have repeatedly said that I will protect all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or social background. It is our responsibility to work for the best interests of the Indonesian people,” he vowed.
The official results will be announced in the next 35 days, and the new president will be inaugurated in October when Joko’s second term ends.
Prabowo, who was defeated in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, will succeed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who has led Indonesia for a decade.
During his campaign, he promised the continuation of Jokowi’s policies.
Earlier, a six-hour-long voting process saw millions of voters cast their ballots in the country’s presidential, national, and provincial elections.
More than 204 million people were eligible to vote for the country’s next president, vice president, parliamentarians, and provincial legislators.
Voter turnout was yet to be released.
With a population of over 274 million people, Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy and the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy.
It is also holding the world’s largest single-day elections to choose around 20,000 administrative officials across 38 provinces where 820,000 polling stations have been set up.
