Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto took an early lead as Indonesia began counting votes in its presidential election Wednesday, with a 60% share among the nearly 40% of ballots counted so far in an unofficial tally.
The front-runner in pre-election polls, Subianto was the only candidate with ties to the Suharto dictatorship, which he served as a special forces commander, and has close ties to the immensely popular sitting President Joko Widodo.
To avoid a runoff, he’ll need more than 50% of all votes cast and at least 20% in each of the country’s provinces.
Voting ended Wednesday afternoon with no major problems reported across the archipelago.
Two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, were also vying to succeed Widodo, who is serving the final of his two terms in office. Widodo’s rise from a riverside slum to the presidency has shown the vibrancy of Indonesia’s democracy in a region rife with authoritarian regimes.
But with Widodo’s son on the ballot as Subianto’s running mate, some observers fear that he’s building a dynasty.
Widodo’s successor will inherit an economy with impressive growth and ambitious infrastructure projects, including the ongoing transfer of the nation’s capital from congested Jakarta to the frontier island of Borneo at a staggering cost exceeding $30 billion.
The election also has high stakes for the United States and China, since Indonesia has a huge domestic market, natural resources like nickel and palm oil, and diplomatic influence with its Southeast Asian neighbors.
The official count may not be finished up to a month, but quick counts have provided an accurate picture of the results of all four presidential elections held in Indonesia since it began direct voting in 2004.
The unofficial result of the presidential election was reported by the largest of 81 survey organizations certified by the General Election Commission under Indonesia’s election law.
The quick count is based on the actual vote count from a sample of polling stations across Indonesia.
The logistics of the vote across the tropical nation’s 17,000 islands inhabited by 270 million people were daunting: Ballot boxes and ballots were transported by boats, motorcycles, horses and on foot in some of the more far-flung locations.
A fierce thunderstorm flooded several streets of Jakarta at dawn Wednesday. Last week, damage from heavy rains in Central Java’s Demak regency prompted the postponement of the election in 10 villages.
Aside from the presidency, some 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts were contested by tens of thousands of candidates in one of the world’s largest elections, which authorities said concluded with no major problems. About 10,000 aspirants from 18 political parties eyed the national parliament’s 580 seats alone.
Voters interviewed by The Associated Press expressed hope their next leader would help them achieve greater prosperity in a country where nearly a tenth of the population still lives in poverty.
“I hope Indonesia can progress better and that I did not vote for the wrong person,” said Indra Nurohim, a 17-year-old high school student and first-time voter. “I hope we will have a better government.”
The official vote tally is a laborious process that could take about a month, but early 
esults based on sampling from registered private polling and survey groups are considered a reliable indicator of the final results. The presidential race will go to a runoff on June 26 if no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-presidential-election-voting-dd732adb2d0f3b674fc92aee4f547c6a
