(Bloomberg) — Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has taken an early lead in the country’s presidential election, according to an unofficial quick count by private pollsters.
Prabowo, and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka are leading with more than 60% in Litbang Kompas’s count of about 32% of votes. Former provincial governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo are tailing Prabowo, with 21.5% and 18.2% respectively in Kompas’ count.
Similar trends are observed from quick counts by Indikator Politik Indonesia, Lembaga Survei Indonesia and CSIS Indonesia-Cyrus Network. Gibran is the elder of two sons of the incumbent Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.
The privately-run quick counts are based on a sample of actual votes from more than 800,000 polling stations across the country. Official results will take several weeks.
Prabowo must secure the required threshold of over 50% to win outright. Otherwise, Indonesia will head to a runoff election in June.
The world’s biggest single-day polls took place over a six-hour period, also electing thousands of lawmakers to local and national legislatures. The new leadership to take over from Jokowi in October will help shape the policies that will chart investment and growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Indonesia’s next president inherits a $1-trillion economy that has fast risen in the global resource supply chain, thanks to Jokowi’s focus on overseas sale of refined rather than raw commodities. That move has boosted exports, narrowed the fiscal deficit and steadied the currency, making Indonesia an emerging-market favorite.
The new president will lead a country that must create jobs for a large youth population while managing supply chain disruptions and the green transition that curbs reliance on locally-abundant coal. He must also navigate regional security concerns amid the heightening rivalry between the US and China.
–With assistance from Grace Sihombing, Eko Listiyorini and Soraya Permatasari.
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