Most estimates show that Jokowi was the clear winner, with about 55% of the vote
evening of April 17th, only a few hours after polling stations had closed, Prabowo Subianto, one of the two candidates in Indonesia’s presidential election, declared himself the winner. His rival, Joko Widodo, the incumbent president, who is usually known as Jokowi, was more cautious: he told his supporters to wait patiently for the final count. But as both men surely knew, despite Mr Prabowo’s bluster, Jokowi had the election in the bag.
Voters also elected a national parliament, as well as provincial, city and district assemblies. For now only estimates of the parliamentary results are available. They show that Jokowi’s party,, remains the biggest, but did not make the gains he had hoped. The new legislature will look much like the old one, with Jokowi’s ruling coalition keeping its majority.
Worse, in a country with a history of faith-based violence, these divisions appear to fall mainly along religious and ethnic lines. Jokowi gained votes in areas where most people are not Muslim, such as Papua and Bali, and in parts of Java where moderate Islam is practised. By contrast, Mr Prabowo did best in places with more doctrinaire Muslims, such as Aceh and nearby West Sumatra.
Term-limits mean that Jokowi’s second five years in office will be his last. He has promised to continue working on the main themes of his first term by building more infrastructure and rolling out more anti-poverty measures, with a special focus on training and education. Freed from the need to watch the polls, he might try to push through more controversial reforms or even attempt to promote tolerance and pluralism.
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