JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s election commission on Wednesday said Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto had received the most votes in last month’s presidential election.
Prabowo, a three-time presidential candidate, won the contest with over 96 million of roughly 164 million total votes, in a resounding win over former provincial governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, who respectively received about 41 million and 27 million, according to the final tally of the election body.
Prabowo is expected to take over from outgoing President Joko Widodo in October.
Former special forces commander Prabowo swept the election on promises of continuity of the platforms of two-term incumbent Widodo, riding on the president’s popularity and using social media like TikTok to tap the support of Indonesia’s huge young voter base.
The road to Prabowo’s victory was marred by controversies and concerns about patronage politics over his alliance with the president, known as Jokowi, who was widely accused of abusing his position to favour his former rival, allegations his allies deny.
Jokowi’s 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka was Prabowo’s running mate and is set to become vice president, owing to a last-minute change of eligibility rules by a court headed by the president’s brother-in-law.
The election commission also announced that Indonesia’s biggest party PDI-P received the most votes in the legislative elections, which were held on the same day, followed by the Golkar Party and Prabowo’s Gerindra Party in third place.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Gayatri Suroyo, Bernadette Christina; Editing by Martin Petty, Kanupriya Kapoor)