Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, leads in voting returns

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia led by a comfortable margin in unofficial returns in his re-election bid Wednesday, as he appeared to fend off a challenge by a four-time presidential candidate supported by hard-line Islamists.

Joko, who is seeking a second five-year term, has made expanding social programmes and building roads, airports, seaports and transit lines high priorities, and his approach appeared to be paying off with voters across the sprawling archipelago.

His opponent, Prabowo Subianto, tried to win popular support by attacking “evil elites” who he said had undermined the country. Prabowo was once married to a daughter of Suharto, the dictator who ruled Indonesia for three decades up to 1998, and he was dismissed from the army decades ago for ordering his troops to kidnap activists.

Unofficial vote counts had Joko leading by roughly 10 percentage points. Official ballot counts in the far-flung island nation take weeks, but the winner usually becomes apparent hours after the voting through so-called quick counts, in which independent polling companies tally ballots from a sampling of polling places nationwide.

Joko addressed reporters late Wednesday afternoon but stopped short of claiming victory based on the quick count that was still in progress.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo reacts after a quick count result during the Indonesian elections in Jakarta, Indonesia Apr 17, 2019. REUTERS

The official results will be released sometime between April 25 and May 22.

The president also sought to begin national healing from the campaign, which was heated at times.

“Let us go back to unite as brothers and sisters as the same country and nation after this presidential and legislative election,” he said.

At a polling station in central Jakarta, Trianasari Arief, 44, said she was excited to vote for Joko and wanted to do her part to keep Prabowo from winning. She said the ex-general, known for his quick temper and unpredictable behaviour, reminded her of President Donald Trump and his upset victory in 2016.

“I don’t want what happened in the United States to happen in Indonesia — where people don’t go to vote and they get the orange-skin guy into office,” Trianasari said.

© 2019 New York Times News Service