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Indonesia: Official figures confirm Prabowo victory
Prabowo Subianto (l), the former son-in-law of the former dictator Suharto, had already declared himself the winner of the election after unofficial quick counts had predicted him a resounding victory in the hours after the election. photo
© Vincent Thian/AP/dpa
It takes time for 200 million ballots to be counted on thousands of islands. But Prabowo’s stunning victory in Indonesia’s election appears to be confirmed. What does that mean for democracy?
The day after the presidential and parliamentary elections in Indonesia, official figures show the ex-general’s clear victory Prabowo Subianto confirmed. By morning, almost 40 percent of the votes had been counted in the island kingdom. Prabowo (72) would get around 56 percent and would not have to go into a runoff against either of his two opponents. The former governor of Jakarta and ex-education minister Anies Baswedan (54) and the governor of the Central Java province Ganjar Pranowo (55) were far behind with around 24 percent and 19 percent.
Prabowo, the former son-in-law of the former dictator Suharto, had already declared himself the winner of the election after unofficial quick counts predicted him a resounding victory in the hours after the election. The formerly powerful general, who was also accused of human rights violations under the brutal Suharto rule in the 1980s and 90s, was already considered the clear favorite to succeed Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, before the vote. The popular current president was not allowed to run again after two terms in office.
Democracy in danger?
Political observers fear that Prabowo as president could endanger democracy in the world’s fourth most populous country. Prabowo has nominated Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka (36), as vice president. Critics then said that Jokowi was trying to build a political family dynasty.
Above all, his victory means that the focus will continue to be on strong economic growth and increasing prosperity throughout Indonesia, said Denis Suarsana, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Jakarta office.
A clear majority of Indonesians voted to continue President Jokowi’s agenda, “with the bonus that a strong man will rule the country for the next five years,” wrote the Jakarta Post newspaper. “The next step for Prabowo after coming to power will be to prove his critics wrong and show that he can be a consensus builder instead of an anti-democratic politician.”
In the largest Muslim country in the world with around 17,000 islands, almost 205 million people were called to vote. A third are younger than 30 years. The electoral authorities want to announce the official final result at the end of March.