Widodo is re-elected to a second term
Published on: Wednesday, May 22, 2019
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Joko Widodo declared victory in presidential elections to lead the world’s third-biggest democracy after the release of official poll results on Tuesday.
“After we’re sworn in... we will be president and vice president,” Widodo told reporters in Jakarta with running mate Ma’ruf Amin at his side.
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“We will be the leaders and protectors of all Indonesians.”
The election commission had been due to announce the final tally of the divisive poll on Wednesday, but the results were revealed early Tuesday with little advance notice amid fears of unrest.
Presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto had warned of possible mass uprisings in response to his claims of widespread cheating.
Tensions have also spiked high since police said last week that they arrested dozens of Islamic State-linked terror suspects—including some who planned to cause chaos by detonating bombs at any post-election protests.
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On Friday, the US embassy in Jakarta issued a heightened security alert for Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation.
There was a heavy security presence in Jakarta on Tuesday, including in front of the elections commission office, which was barricaded with razor wire and protected by scores of heavily armed troops.
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Subianto, a 67-year-old retired general, has targeted the commission by accusing it of allowing a string of election violations.
The former military man—who has strong ties to the Suharto dictatorship that collapsed in 1998 — has kept up a steady string of rhetoric since unofficial results for the April 17 poll put bitter rival Widodo ahead by a wide margin.
Subianto lost a 2014 presidential battle with Widodo, which he unsuccessfully challenged in court. It was not immediately clear if he would formally challenge the latest results.
However, Azis Subekti, a witness for Subianto’s camp, refused to sign the official election results Tuesday, and hinted that the matter was not settled.
“We won’t surrender in our fight against injustice, fraud and abuse,” he was quoted as saying by Indonesia’s Detik.com.
Analysts and election officials have discounted Subianto’s claims that the result was affected by voter fraud and widespread cheating.
“The scale of abuses and errors in the conduct of the election are clearly very minor overall,” Jakarta-based political analyst Kevin O’Rourke said before Tuesday’s official results.
“(Subianto) and his camp are harping on minor deficiencies and very micro problems, clearly in an attempt to sway public opinion and delegitimise Widodo.”
It was unclear if huge crowds would flood the streets to support Subianto, but there was little sign of Tuesday.
“There will be protests from disappointed (Subianto) supporters but I don’t think it’ll be significant,” said Syamsuddin Haris, a political analyst at the Indonesian Sciences Institute.
“Authorities have been anticipating this,” he added.
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