Prabowo and Gibran took to the stage at an indoor sports stadium in Jakarta to thank their campaign and supporters at 7.45pm on Wednesday (11.45pm AEST).
“I say it again, we will take care of all Indonesians regardless [of] “It’s their ethnicity and their social backgrounds,” Prabowo said. “We will form a government team that includes the best sons and daughters of the country. We will continue to wait for the official results from the Electoral Commission – we are confident that Indonesian democracy is working well.
Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto shows a ballot card during the election in Bujong Kuning, Indonesia.credit: AP
“We are a big nation, we are a rich nation – that is why other powers envy us, and therefore we must be strong, united and maintain harmony.”
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Their clear early victory, defying the expectations of many analysts and polls, removes the threat of a second round of cooperation between Anis and Genjar. It will save the elderly Prabowo months of additional campaigning. The official issue will be published on March 20.
Prabowo lost presidential elections to Jokowi in 2014 and 2019 as a controversial nationalist and disaffected Islamist, respectively. In this campaign, he and his army of doctors successfully rebrand him as a friendly grandfather figure who dances and loves animals.
It is worth noting that Prabowo promised in the election campaign to continue the political legacy of Jokowi, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term and will leave the presidency in October. The rapprochement began with the appointment of Joko Prabowo as Defense Minister in 2019.
A soft-spoken Jokowi rose to power from outside the country's ruling elite and ruled with action and pragmatism, endearing him to ordinary Indonesians and boosting economic growth.
While he has been widely criticized for weakening key democratic institutions, recent polls show his support in office is close to 80 percent after 10 years.
A woman casts her vote at a polling station during elections in Medan, Indonesia.credit: AP
More than once during Prabowo's victory speech, At the reference to the sitting president, the crowd erupted in chants of “Jokowi.”
Depending on who is asked, Prabowo's choice of Gibran as his running mate – widely seen as a means for Jokowi to maintain some form of political influence – is either a symbol of stability or the building of an unwelcome dynasty.
Satina, a 55-year-old housewife from the poor side of Jakarta's Semprug Golf 2 neighborhood, voted for Prabowo “because of Jokowi.”
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“Since Jokowi became president, my son can get educational insurance [a policy providing financial relief for school supplies]So I will continue my support.”
Prabowo's past includes allegations of human rights abuses in East Timor and inciting deadly anti-China riots in 1998, accusations he has long denied. But he was dismissed by the military after the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998 for his role in the kidnapping of democracy activists, 12 of whom are still missing. He says he has no knowledge of their whereabouts or what happened to them.
Putri Elma, a first-time voter, shows off her finger in ink to prove she actually cast her vote.credit: Amelia Rosa
However, successive US administrations denied him entry, until Jokowi brought him to his tent in 2019.
More than 200 million Indonesians were eligible to vote in presidential and legislative elections to appoint nearly 20,000 politicians across 6,000 inhabited islands.
