Indonesia: Prabowo Subianto claims victory in presidential polls while official voting underway

JAKARTA: Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto declared victory in the presidential polls after unofficial vote counts showed him leading significantly over his rivals, Al Jazeera reported.

The 72-year-old former special forces commander -- who lost in the race for president twice before -- had about 58 per cent of the votes, according to four pollsters, based on "quick count" ballots at samples of voting stations nationwide.

The number of ballots tallied ranged from about 86 to 95 per cent as of 14:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo trailed with about 25 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, according to the independent pollsters conducting the counts, which have provided an accurate picture of the results of previous presidential elections held in the country since it began direct voting for the president in 2004, according to Al Jazeera.

A preliminary count by the election commission was far slower and showed Prabowo securing 57.7 per cent of votes, with about 6 percent of ballots recorded.

Prabowo addressed his jubilant supporters at a stadium in Jakarta, and said he was "grateful" for the quick results.

He was also accompanied by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko Widodo.

"We should not be arrogant, we should not be proud, we should not be euphoric, we still have to be humble, this victory must be a victory for all Indonesian people," he said.

However, neither Anies nor Ganjar conceded, and urged the public to wait for the official result, which is expected by March 20 at the latest.

"We have to respect the people's decision," Anies told reporters at his campaign headquarters after Prabowo claimed victory.

Ganjar's campaign team said they were investigating reports of "electoral violations," calling it "structural, systematic and massive fraud" without providing evidence to back up the claim.

A candidate needs more than 50 per cent of votes cast and at least 20 per cent of the ballot in half of the country's provinces for winning the elections in the first round itself. If no candidate wins a majority, a run-off between the top two finishers will be held in June, Al Jazeera reported.

Prabowo was the front-runner going into the poll, thanks to the apparent support of Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.

Gibran, the 36-year-old mayor of Solo, was named Prabowo's running mate after a controversial court ruling on age limits where Widodo's brother-in-law was one of the judges.

On the campaign trail Prabowo and Gibran pledged to continue the policies of Jokowi, who retained an approval rating of about 80 per cent but was barred under the constitution from running again, as he had completed his maximum limit of two terms.

According to Al Jazeera, they will be inheriting an economy that grew just over 5 per cent last year, and a slate of ambitious infrastructure projects, including the transfer of the capital from Jakarta to the island of Borne.

While Widodo was the first Indonesian president to emerge from the political and military elite since the collapse of the hardline rule of Soeharto 25 years ago, and has been accused of trying to build a political dynasty.

There were protests condemning Jokowi's alleged election interference in the run up to the poll.

Prabowo's apparent success also marks a significant milestone in the political evolution. He served as a former Kopassus special forces commander who was once son-in-law to Soeharto.

Prabowo was given a dishonourable discharge in 1998 after claims that the group kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Soeharto as his regime crumbled. Of 22 activists kidnapped that year, 13 remain missing, and while Prabowo never faced trial, several of his men were tried and convicted, as per Al Jazeera.

He has also been accused of human rights abuses in East Timor, which won independence from Indonesia amid the collapse of the Soeharto regime, and in Indonesia's troubled eastern region of Papua.