Official tally shows Jokowi has won, Jakarta media report

JAKARTA — Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (picture) is expected to be officially declared the winner of the Indonesian Presidential Election today, after polls compiled from all but one of Indonesia’s 34 provinces by the General Elections Commission (KPU) showed that he had defeated his rival by more than eight million votes.

The Jakarta Globe reported yesterday that, according to KPU’s official tally in 33 provinces, Mr Widodo had secured 53.17 per cent of the vote, compared with the 46.83 per cent garnered by ex-army general Prabowo Subianto.

Votes were still being tallied on Sunday in Indonesia’s newest and 34th province of North Kalimantan ahead of KPU’s official announcement of the results today, but key members of Mr Prabowo’s team have conceded defeat and extended congratulations to Mr Widodo.

“The election has been completed and my job is complete. I’ve failed the Prabowo-Hatta ticket,” said former Constitutional Court chief and the head of Mr Prabowo’s campaign team, Mr Mahfud MD, in a televised interview.

Mr Prabowo on Sunday said he would not accept the official result until allegations of cheating are investigated.

Following KPU’s result announcement, if either candidate refutes the outcome due to evidence of fraud or other voting irregularities, the case will go to the Constitutional Court. The judges have two weeks to make a ruling after receiving complaints.

Mr Widodo has so far refrained from declaring a win, as he did in the wake of several credible quick count results — which showed him as the winner just hours after polling closed on July 9. Mr Prabowo had followed suit and also declared himself the winner, relying on other quick counts.

The KPU tallies reported by the Jakarta Globe showed Mr Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla winning in 23 provinces, while Mr Prabowo and Mr Hatta Rajasa led in 10 provinces.

Mr Widodo led Mr Prabowo by 8.4 million votes, or around 6.3 percentage points.

He dominated the votes in central and eastern Indonesia, with his biggest vote banks in Central, East and West Java.

Mr Widodo was also more popular with overseas Indonesian voters, winning 7.48 per cent more votes than his rival. There are a total of 132.9 million valid votes — representing 70.6 per cent of the country’s total eligible voters.

Mr Hatta is chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which circulated a message to its lawmakers, referring to party founder Amien Rais: “My dear friends … Pak Amien Rais has extended a report from our campaign team; it says we’ve lost by more than 4 per cent. Hope Allah gives us strength to sincerely accept this.”

Mr Amien Rais’ son Hanafi, also a PAN politician, congratulated Mr Widodo through a press statement sent to detik.com. “As members of (PAN’s) young generation, we congratulate Bapak Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla — who will helm the national leadership for the next five years,” he said on Sunday.

Yesterday, Indonesia’s outgoing leader came within a whisker of telling Mr Prabowo to admit defeat so that the bitter contest could be resolved. “Admitting defeat is noble,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters, in a clear reference to Mr Prabowo.

Mr Prabowo’s recalcitrance has led to fears his supporters might turn violent and some have threatened to rally outside the KPU office in central Jakarta.

The national police and military have deployed nearly 300,000 personnel across the vast archipelago of 240 million people and security has been beefed up around the KPU office, but there has been no word of any violence.

“We don’t anticipate the KPU to be a hot spot for violence,” national police spokesperson Boy Rafli Amar told Reuters. “At the same time, we ask the public not to assemble there so that the KPU officials can continue their work in a conducive atmosphere.” AGENCIES