Indonesia’s defence minister pledged to be a president for all citizens in the world’s third-largest democracy after being formally declared the winner of the country’s recent presidential election.
Prabowo Subianto, a former military general, won 58.6 per cent of the votes, the official count showed on Wednesday, far ahead of rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, who won 24.9 per cent and 16.5 per cent, respectively.
Speaking after the official results, Prabowo said the election had gone smoothly and invited Indonesians to look ahead as one because the country’s challenges were still large, local media reported.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken congratulated the president-elect and said “we look forward to partnering closely” with Prabowo and his administration.
The results mirror unofficial figures released by pollsters last month based on sample ballots. Prabowo will be inaugurated as president on October 20, succeeding Joko Widodo after his 10-year stint.