Indonesian President Joko Widodo has won a second term after defeating Prabowo Subianto, the election commission said.
In a live streamed announcement, election commission chief Arief Budiman said that Widodo won with 55.5 per cent votes and the ruling will be effective immediately.
Unofficial counts by pollsters had predicted a comfortable win for incumbent president Widodo. Indonesia had held its biggest-ever election on April 17, a massive one-day poll featuring more than 190 million registered voters and a record 245,000 candidates vying for the presidency, parliamentary seats and local legislator positions.
Retired General Subianto and his team have claimed widespread cheating and have also refused to sign and validate the official results. An election supervisory agency had dismissed on Monday claims of cheating because of a lack of evidence and analysts have said the poll was free and fair.
Prabowo has not made it clear if he would challenge the official result legally. If the opposition does not challenge the results, the commission will officially declare the winner by May 28.
Authorities have beefed up security fearing a potential civil unrest after Prabowo said the situation could trigger “people power”-style protests.
Subianto had lost a 2014 presidential bid to Widodo which he unsuccessfully challenged in court.
(With inputs from agencies)
