Indonesia: Prabowo Subianto confirmed as president-elect as rivals allege fraud

BBC News:

Indonesia’s defence minister Prabowo Subianto has been declared the winner of last month’s presidential election in the world’s third largest democracy.

Mr Prabowo appealed for unity as his two rivals, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, vowed to contest the result.

The former general, who had been dogged by allegations of human rights abuse for decades, won 58.59% of the votes.

He had endeared himself to social media-savvy voters with TikTok videos that cast him as a cuddly grandpa.

“For those who didn’t vote for us, give us a chance,” the 72-year-old said after the elections commission announced the official count on Wednesday night.

“We will prove that we are a president and vice president who will work as hard as possible for all the Indonesian people,” he said.

He will assume office in October, taking over from President Joko Widodo, who is more popularly known as Jokowi.

Eighty percent of 205 million registered voters across 17,000 islands and three time zones trooped to polling centres last 14 February, making it the world’s largest single-day election.

Mr Prabowo’s votes exceeded the majority required to avoid a runoff. Mr Anies and Mr Ganjar got 25% and 16%, respectively.