Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto was on course to win the archipelago’s presidential poll by a wide margin, official tallies showed yesterday with more than half of votes counted.
The final result is not expected until late next month, but early indications all point to the 72-year-old former general succeeding popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo.
With more than half the ballots counted, Prabowo had a commanding 57 percent of votes, more than double his nearest rival and enough for a first-round majority, the election commission’s Web site showed.
Photo: AP
Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan had 24.98 percent yesterday morning, and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo had 18.02 percent.
“Thank God, we must be grateful and continue to monitor the KPU’s official results,” Prabowo wrote on Instagram late on Thursday, referring to the general election commission.
The fiery populist on Wednesday claimed a “victory for all Indonesians” alongside his running mate — the president’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka — based on preliminary results by government-approved pollsters.
The early sample counts — previously shown to be reliable — showed they were set for a first-round majority. Gibran, 36, would become Indonesia’s youngest-ever vice president. However, both of his rivals said they would wait for the official result and had not conceded.
Prabowo needs more than 50 percent of the overall vote and at least a fifth of ballots cast in more than half the country’s 38 provinces to officially secure the presidency.
Analysts said his win was almost assured.
Jokowi, as the incumbent leader is popularly known, told reporters on Thursday he had met with Prabowo the previous evening to offer his congratulations.
He has been accused of backing his former rival and defense chief’s campaign in a bid to install a political dynasty, via his son, before leaving office.
In his Instagram post, Prabowo said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called to congratulate him, as well as the leaders of Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wrote on X late on Thursday that he had congratulated the president-in-waiting because of the “projected outcome.”
The US was more cautious, only congratulating the Indonesian people on the election’s “robust turnout” in a statement that did not mention Prabowo.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS