While vote counting continues for Indonesia’s recently concluded election, reports have come out that incumbent, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo already enjoys a comfortable lead over former general and rival, Prabowo Subianto, at least according to the unofficial results.
Indonesia pulled off a complex yet peaceful election across its vast – and ethnically diverse – island territory this week, cementing its place as a democratic beacon in a sea of authoritarian governments, analysts say.
But the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation still faces a spike in militant Islam and myriad other challenges.
Indonesia's Joko Widodo said Thursday his re-election as head of the world's third-biggest democracy was all but assured, calling for calm as his firebrand ex-general rival insisted he had in fact won the nation's top job.
Indonesia's Joko Widodo was on track to be re-elected leader of the world's third-biggest democracy as unofficial results put him in a comfortable lead over firebrand ex-general Prabowo Subianto after voting closed Wednesday across the 17,000-island archipelago.
Indonesia kicked off one of the world's biggest one-day elections today, pitting president Joko Widodo against ex-general Prabowo Subianto in a race to lead the Muslim-majority nation.
Indonesia’s election has its heavy-metal-fan president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo – widely perceived as a moderate Muslim – in one corner and Prabowo Subianto, a former lieutenant general, in the other. This is the second time they will go head to head since 2014 when Prabowo held the support of the conservative Muslims in the country.
But something integral has changed this time around.
Dipping their fingers in halal (permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law) ink to prevent double voting, Indonesians will cast their ballots Wednesday in a bitterly contested presidential election, with the main rival to incumbent Joko Widodo already threatening to challenge the result over voter-fraud claims.
Almost 200 million Indonesian voters head to the polls on Wednesday after a long presidential election campaign dominated by economic policy issues.
Indonesia's heavy metal-loving leader Joko Widodo faces off against ex-military general Prabowo Subianto in the race to lead the world's third-biggest democracy Wednesday, a re-run of the 2014 election contest narrowly won by Widodo.
Indonesia is probing vote-rigging claims after the discovery of thousands of stray election ballots in neighbouring Malaysia, officials said, as the opposition threatens to challenge next week's poll results over separate voter list irregularities.
Standing up through the sunroof of a van, Prabowo Subianto leans down to shake hands and accept cash – sometimes bags of it – from tens of thousands of cheering supporters clogging up roads and sitting on rooftops. All of them are trying to get a glimpse of the man they want to be Indonesia’s next president.
By now, most of the world already knows that Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim demographic in the world, housing approximately 229 million Muslims. This, however, is especially pertinent considering the fact that Indonesia is about to face its largest election in a week from today on 17 April.
