Both candidates declare victory in Indonesia presidential election

USPA News - Both candidates in Indonesia`s presidential vote declared victory on Wednesday after exit polls showed mixed results, though most reliable polls indicated that Jakarta governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is most likely to win the election to lead the world`s third-largest democracy. Presidential hopefuls Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto were less than seven percentage points away from each other, according to various exit polls from Wednesday`s vote, but official results are not expected for nearly two weeks.

Jokowi is the governor of the country`s capital district while Prabowo is an ex-general. Preliminary results of quick counts enacted by pollsters Cyrus Network and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) indicated that the Jokowi-Kalla ticket would likely win the presidential election, according to Indonesian news outlet Tempo. Quick counts as tallied by the Jakarta Globe, from 2,000 polling stations in 33 provinces, showed Jokowi-Kalla ahead with 52.97 percent, against Prabowo-Hatta`s 47.03 percent. Jokowi thanked the people of Indonesia as well as his opponents before announcing his victory. However, Subianto has yet to acknowledge defeat, citing other quick counts that favored him. "Based on quick count results by polling institutions that we use as a benchmark, we have received a mandate from the people of Indonesia," Prabowo said in a televised press conference, as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. The Indonesian Survey Circle`s (LSI) quick count revealed that Jokowi-Kalla was leading the election with 54.3 percent after 54 percent of samples were counted. Soon after, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the chair of Jokowi`s PDI-P party, announced that - based on the initial quick count results - she could "declare" victory for Jokowi. Several minutes later, Indonesian news network Metro TV declared Jokowi the president-elect. "The main battle takes place in West and East Java. The Jokowi-Kalla ticket leads in Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, Borneo, and several other areas, while the Prabowo-Hatta ticket prevails in Banten, West Java, and Sumatra," CSIS researcher Phillips J Vermonte explained to Tempo. Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked both parties not to celebrate in public pending the announcement of the official results, which are not expected until July 22, after all the votes from around the archipelago have been counted. The General Elections Commission (KPU) will declare the presidential-elect at that date.