Indonesia’s ruling party is likely to win the most votes after the country’s presidential and legislative election, unofficial vote counts showed Thursday.
Quick counts from a sample of polling stations showed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of President Joko Widodo leading with around 20 per cent.
Gerindra, the party of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, came second with nearly 13 per cent.
Both parties carry nationalist platforms.
Official results will not be announced until later next month.
Similar unofficial tallies from the presidential election put Joko on track for a second term with a 10-point lead over Prabowo.
The quick counts put Joko ahead with around 55 per cent, while Prabowo trailed on 45 per cent.
The quick counts have proved accurate in predicting past election winners in Indonesia.
Joko welcome the preliminary results.
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“Looking at the results of the quick counts, it appears that I and Ma’ruf Amin are still trusted by the people of Indonesia to be president and vice-president for the period 2019-2024,” Joko said in a written statement.
Prabowo has rejected the unofficial tally and claimed that counts of actual votes at more than 300,000 polling stations showed him leading with 62 per cent.
He accused pollsters involved in quick counts of trying to manipulate public opinion in favour of the incumbent.
He went further by saying that he had been elected president.
“I will be a president for all Indonesians. Those who supported [Joko], I will still defend you,” he said in a speech to his supporters late Wednesday.
“We will develop an Indonesia that is victorious, an Indonesia that is prosperous, an Indonesia that is peaceful, an Indonesia that is respected by the world, an Indonesia where no one is hungry,” he added.
He made a similar claim of victory in 2014 after unofficial counts showed that he lost narrowly to Joko.
(dpa)
