Indonesia: Both candidates in presidential polls claim victory

Just a few hours after voting closed, Jakarta Gov. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said he had won, based on what are widely seen as quick counts of more than 90 percent of the votes. A victory for him would be seen as a triumph for a new breed of politician that has emerged in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, and increase the promise of reform in government, according to Arab News .

But ex-general Prabowo Subianto, the rival candidate seen as a representative of the old guard that flourished under decades of autocratic rule, pointed to a quick count by other pollsters naming him the winner. He did not name the pollsters. Jokowi, on other hand, said he was the winner from tolls by six agencies, many of which are regarded as independent. The quick counts are conducted by private agencies which collate actual vote tallies as they come out of each district. The results are not official, but quick counts by three non-partisan pollsters - CSIS, Kompas and Saifulmujani - showed a Jokowi win. Their predictions were accurate in the April parliamentary election. The Election Commission will take about two weeks to officially declare the results of the presidential contest and the new president is not due to take office until Oct. 1. A senior aide to Jokowi said the party would not take any action like naming a cabinet until the official result is announced on or around July 22. "We've waited months. We can wait another 2 to 3 weeks for the (Election Commission's) final verdict," Luhut Panjaitan told Reuters. The standoff is unprecedented in Indonesia, which is holding only its third direct presidential election. In both the previous elections, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, now the outgoing president, won by a clear margin. There have been concerns of violence once the result is known, a worry alluded to by Yudhoyono's administration. "For both groups of supporters related with the split quick count results, we request they do not mobilize their supporters excessively," said Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for legal, political and security affairs. There were no reports of any major violence. Around 250,000 police officers were on standby across Indonesia, authorities said. It has been the dirtiest and most confrontational campaign in memory in a country which traditionally holds up the value of consensus politics. Ahead of the vote, the two candidates had been neck and neck in opinion polls as Jokowi lost a huge early lead in the face of smear campaigns and a far more focused, and expensive, race for the presidency by his rival. "Today the people have decided a new direction for Indonesia ... This is a new chapter for Indonesia," Jokowi told hundreds of supporters at Proclamation Square, where the country's first President Sukarno declared independence in 1945. At the same time, Jokowi offered conciliatory words to his rival, Prabowo, saying he was a patriot and contributed to a better democracy.