Indonesia President Joko Widodo declares victory in presidential race
Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared victory on Thursday in the race to lead the world’s third-largest democracy, saying unofficial results showed his ticket had got 54 percent of the popular vote in Wednesday’s election.
Earlier, National Police Chief Tito Karnavian said “smooth and safe” polls would not be disrupted by demonstrations, and warned of arrests.
“If there are any illegal or unconstitutional actions that threaten public stability and security, (authorities) will take firm action,” he said.We won’t tolerate it.
“I urge everyone against mass demonstrations, whether it’s to celebrate or to express dissatisfaction” at the results, Karnavian added.
This year’s campaign was punctuated by bitter mudslinging and a slew of fake news online—much of it directed at the presidential contenders.
Authorities said on Thursday they had seen a spike in false reports and hoaxes, with some calling for chaos in the streets and for Indonesians to commit violence in response to the results.
However, the capital Jakarta was quiet on Thursday after as many as 190 million voters in the Muslim-majority country cast ballots in the one day poll—which featured a record 245,000 candidates—to elect a new president, parliamentarians and local legislators.
While official results are not due until next month, a series of so-called “quick counts” by pollsters, which are based on samples, showed Widodo between 9-11 percentage points ahead.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR READERS