Presidential contender Prabowo Subianto has again declared victory over the incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday evening, along with running mate Sandiaga Uno, Democratic Party secretary-general Hinca Pandjaitan, and National Mandate Party (PAN) patron Amien Rais – all of whom were absent during his first and second declarations on Wednesday.
“I declare victory, along with Sandiaga Uno as president and vice president for the 2019-2024 period, based on 64 per cent of votes recapitulated via real count,” Prabowo exclaimed in his home in South Jakarta. He also added that he declared his ‘victory’ earlier than the final results due to various wrongdoings and fraud during elections across Indonesia.
Twelve survey institutions have revealed that Jokowi and his running mate, Ma’ruf Amin, currently lead with about 54-55 per cent of votes, while Prabowo and Sandiaga garnered about 44-45 per cent.
Around the same time, incumbent Joko Widodo revealed that 13 state leaders have congratulated the Indonesian people. Jokowi also claimed that 12 quick counts have put him and Ma’ruf ahead of Prabowo-Sandiaga, with 54.5 per cent of votes. While he refrained from making remarks about Prabowo’s victory declaration, Jokowi added that the world leaders have also congratulated him and his running mate, Muslim cleric Ma’ruf Amin in a ‘special’ way.
Prabowo first claimed victory on Wednesday afternoon, claiming that he had gained 52 per cent of votes. In the second declaration, which followed a few hours later, Prabowo claimed that he had managed to gain 62 per cent of the votes based on an internal “real count” of over 320,000 polling stations in Indonesia.
However, researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi, from Indikator Politik Indonesia, refuted Prabowo’s claims, saying that it is almost impossible to collect data from 320,000 polling stations within a day.
Source: The Jakarta Post
Image: Kompas