Thousands of police were deployed on the streets of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday ahead of former Indonesian defense minister Prabowo Subianto's confirmation as the country's next president, five weeks after 168 million voters went to the polls in a general election in the world's third-largest democracy. Rival parties have pledged to contest the result in court. File photo by Adi Weda/EPA-EFE
March 21 (UPI) -- Former Indonesian defense minister Prabowo Subianto was confirmed as the country's next president, five weeks after 168 million voters went to the polls in a general election in the world's third-largest democracy.
Prabowo and running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka won with 58.6% of the vote, defeating the main rival Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar ticket which garnered 25% of votes, the General Election Commission (KPU) announced late Wednesday saying the president- and vice-president-elect would be sworn in Oct. 20.
In a victory speech alongside leaders of all parties in his Great Indonesia Awakening coalition, ex-military strongman Prabowo called for unity in an effort to bring an end to weeks of wrangling and protests over the election amid allegations of fraud and nepotism.
"We extend an invitation to all Indonesians to join hands and unite. Let us work together harmoniously to bring prosperity to Indonesia," said the 72-year-old son-in-law of Suharto, Indonesia's former president who presided over a brutal three-decade-long military dictatorship marked by rampant corruption.
In a post on X, Prabowo said the country needed to be strong to overcome the great challenges facing it and pledged he and Gibran would "work as hard as possible for the Indonesian people."
The result avoids the need for a divisive run-off election that would have taken place in June.
President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, the father of Gibran who was permitted to run despite being below the minimum age of 40 to qualify as a candidate, congratulated the pair on their win.
But Baswedan and third-place candidate Ganjar Pranowo pledged to contest the "KPU's version" of the result of the race in court.
"Tonight, the Indonesian KPU has issued an official announcement, the results of which we have heard together in the KPU version. However, in an election, a process that is open, fair and free from pressure is no less important than the final result," Baswedan wrote in a post on X.
"We all want this country to continue to build political maturity, not to regress to the pre-reform era. Therefore, we emphasize that this deviation from democracy will not be allowed to go unchallenged and set a bad precedent for all future elections."
Opponents allege Prabowo is Jokowi's hand-picked successor through whom he plans to extend his influence now that he has completed the maximum two terms in office and accuse him of attempting to interfere in the election with handouts of cash and rice.
Jokowi appointed Prabowo as defense minister after fending off challenges for the presidency from the leader of the right-wing populist Gerindra Party in 2014 and 2019. The pair put aside their differences to put together a continuity ticket preserving Jokowi's legacy and lending legitimacy to Prabowo who has long been accused of human rights abuses when he led the country's special forces, which he denies.
The international community, however, welcomed the result and praised the administering of a democratic exercise with such a large turnout.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent his "sincere congratulations" Wednesday, hailing Indonesians' "robust turnout and commitment to democracy and the rule of law".
In a statement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he looked forward to further deepening his country's "strategic partnership" with Indonesia.
