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Indonesian Defense Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto salutes supporters after delivering a speech at the Jakarta Convention Center during a campaign rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Feb. 2, 2024.
Indonesians voted in the world’s biggest single-day election yesterday, where 259,000 candidates vied for 20,600 posts across the archipelago of 17,000 islands.
It may take up to a month for all the votes to be counted in the world’s fourth most populous country. But early results show the skull cracker-general-turned-teddy-bear Prabowo Subianto leading the presidential candidates with 58% of the vote.
Prabowo is the former son-in-law of Suharto, a dictator toppled in 1998, and has a troubling human rights record from his time as special forces commander. Ahead of the race, he recast himself as a loveable grandfather figure, aided by an unofficial endorsement of the popular president Joko Widodo, aka Jokowi, and the president’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming, who is running as Prabowo’s vice president.
Prabowo's campaign focused on continuing Jokowi's legacy and was fueled by a strong youth vote. In Indonesia, the majority of the electorate is under 40 years old, good news for Prabowo, who is more popular among younger voters than those who have lived through his controversial political career.
He is 25 points ahead of the next two candidates and will be tasked with sustaining Jokowi’s strong economy and combating high youth unemployment when he wins.