"Quick counts” of votes in Indonesia’s closely watched presidential election Wednesday indicate that Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is on track to succeed President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as the next leader of Southeast Asia's largest and most populous state.
With more than 80% of quick count results in from multiple pollsters, the 72-year-old ex-general from the Gerindra Party has built up a commanding lead over his nearest rival of more than 30 percentage points. The figures, based on votes counted at sample voting stations, put Prabowo, long the front-runner in most pre-election polls, ahead with between 57% and 59% of votes.
This compared with between 24.4 % and 26.2% for independent candidate Anies Baswedan and between 16.4% and 17.2% for Ganjar Pranowo of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.