TIL Desk/World/Jakarta/ Indonesia’s Joko Widodo has been re-elected as president of the world’s third-biggest democracy, the elections commission said early Tuesday, beating rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general who has vowed to challenge any victory for the incumbent leader.
The commission was expected to announce the official results of the April 17 poll on Wednesday in the Southeast Asian nation of 260 million. But amid fears about unrest and street demonstrations in response to the final count, the final tally was released early with little advance notice.
Widodo and his vice-presidential running mate Ma’ruf Amin won the election by a 55.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent margin over Subianto and Sandiaga Uno, the elections commission said. “This ruling was announced on May 21… and will be effectively immediately,” the commission’s chair Arief Budiman said in a live streamed announcement that was broadcast on major media. Widodo, 57, had been widely predicted to win according to unofficial results.