The man most likely elected as Indonesia’s new president yesterday warned against tampering with ballots ahead of a final count of votes later this month.
Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, named the winner of Wednesday’s disputed election by several non-partisan pollsters who have been accurate in the past, also displayed fledgling presidential credentials at a news conference, condemning Israel’s Gaza offensive.
Both Jokowi and his main rival, former general Prabowo Subianto, claimed victory in the election, the closest ever such contest in the world’s third-biggest democracy.
Photo: AFP
The Elections Commission is to announce the official result on July 22.
“We ask everyone’s cooperation to now safeguard the election result from yesterday until the official result by [the commission]... I would to ask everyone not to taint the sincerity of Indonesian society’s aspirations in the election,” Jokowi told reporters, a clear reference to fears of tampering with the votes cast.
Prabowo has accused his opponent of jumping the gun by claiming victory before the final count.
The quick counts are conducted by private agencies approved by the Elections Commission, which collate actual vote tallies as they come out of each district. However, the results are unofficial.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged the two men to keep their supporters in check during what will be an agonizing two-week wait.
Yudhoyono met Jokowi and Prabowo separately at his home outside Jakarta late on Wednesday night, telling both to ensure their supporters kept the peace.
“[The president] asks both candidates’ sides to show restraint, not to mobilize masses onto the streets to celebrate victory until the verdict of the Election Commission,” Yudhoyono tweeted late on Wednesday.
There were no reports of any major violence. About 250,000 police officers stood on standby across the nation, authorities said.
Indonesian financial markets surged yesterday in the belief that the unassuming Jokowi, who is seen as a representative of the common man and the face of reform, had won.
Investors have been hoping for victory for the Jakarta governor, the first serious presidential contender without deep roots in the former Indonesian president Suharto era, seeing him as a potential reformer and clean leader in a graft-ridden country.
Prabowo, who was a top general in the Suharto era and has been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, is seen as a last gasp of the old guard and his nationalist rhetoric and suggestions of a greater state role in the economy has worried many investors.
“Given the scale of the economic challenge confronting Indonesia’s new president, and the country’s domestic and external vulnerabilities, a divided nation is the worst possible outcome as far as the politics of economic reform are concerned,” said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in an e-mail.
Despite the initial market euphoria over a potential Jokowi win, concerns are also growing about a long period of uncertainty that could unnerve investors.
Even if Jokowi is then declared the winner, Prabowo can still challenge the result in the Constitutional Court, potentially dragging out the process for weeks.
Several polling agencies, which have accurately predicted the result of previous elections, gave Jokowi a lead of 4 to 5 percentage points. However, Prabowo insisted that survey agencies followed by his camp gave him a narrow lead.
Additional reporting by AFP
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