Indonesia's
election commission has announced Joko Widodo as winner of this month's
presidential polls. Hours before the finalized results, rival runner Prabowo
Subianto withdrew from the race, claiming electoral fraud.
Deutsche Welle, 22 July 2014
Jakarta
governor Joko Widodo, popularly nicknamed "Widodo," claimed just over
53 percent of the votes, according to the final count on Tuesday. Voter turnout
was over 70 percent, with almost 133 million valid ballots cast in total across
the giant archipelago.
Police were out in force in Jakarta after a heated election |
The results
largely corroborated the unofficial "quick counts" released after the
July 9 election, most of which gave Jokowi a slim lead of up to 5 percent.
After a
tense election campaign, Jokowi had called on his supporters to stay home in
the case of a victory on Tuesday - to avoid potential clashes with supporters
of his main rival, former general Prabowo Subianto. Jakarta police mobilized in
force on Tuesday anticipating possible clashes.
Rival quits
at last second
Subianto
withdrew from Indonesia's presidential election process hours before the final
results, citing widespread fraud.
Prabowo Subianto said he did not accept, but would not appeal, the results |
"We
have found instances of electoral fraud involving organizers that make this
election unfair," he said, before urging his supporters to remain calm.
"We will base our struggle on the constitution and laws."
Prabowo had
previously called on the election commission to stop the counting process until
all allegations of electoral fraud were investigated.
Prabowo's
withdrawal could open him up to prosecution: candidates agree not to withdraw
once they have signed up to run for the presidency. Under Indonesian election
laws, pulling out of the race can theoretically be punished by up to five years
in jail and a fine of up to 50 billion rupiah (3.18 million euros, $4.31
million).
msh/dr (AFP, AP, dpa)
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President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono watches the vote recapitulation
process along with
some of his cabinet members at his private residence in
Cikeas, West Java, on
Tuesday.
|
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