Official Announcement of Prabowo’s Victory in the Indonesian Presidential Election

By: Fatima Badawi

The Indonesian Election Commission officially declared Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto as the winner of the first round of the presidential elections in Indonesia, held on February 14.

Chairman of the Election Commission, Hashim Asy’ari, announced that former general Prabowo and his running mate for vice president, Graban Rakabuming Raka, secured over 96 million votes, approximately 58.6% of the total votes, which is enough to secure a majority in the first round.

Graban is the eldest son of the outgoing president, Joko Widodo, and is expected to become vice president due to a last-minute eligibility rule change issued by a court led by the president’s son-in-law.

Prabowo’s victory surpasses his competitors, Anies Baswedan, who received around 41 million votes (24.9%), and Ganjar Pranowo, who garnered 27 million votes (16%), according to official statistics from the Election Commission.

More than 164 million Indonesians headed to the polls out of the 204 million registered voters, with a voter turnout of approximately 80%, compared to around 82% in 2019.

Prabowo is expected to assume the presidency following the end of Widodo’s term in October.

Following the announcement of the results, Prabowo thanked the voters and stated that last month’s elections went smoothly.

His popularity has increased due to what experts perceive as his nationalist spirit in his populist speeches and his portrayal as a strongman during his tenure as defense minister.