JAKARTA: The reform-minded governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, was declared on Tuesday the winner of Indonesia’s presidential election after a closely-fought race against a controversial ex-general with deep roots in the era of strongman Suharto.

As a grinning Widodo, dressed in a traditional Indonesian patterned shirt, looked on, the election commission announced that he had beaten Prabowo Subianto by over six percentage points in the fight to lead the world’s third-biggest democracy.

The news came after a dramatic final day to the country’s most divisive election period since the end of the Suharto era in 1998, with Prabowo angrily accusing Widodo’s team of committing fraud and announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race.

Both candidates claimed victory on the day of the July 9 election, despite reliable polling agencies predicting a win for Widodo.

Widodo’s victory caps a meteoric rise for the former furniture exporter, who is seen as break from the past and won legions of fans with his common touch during his time as Jakarta governor.

Loser in Indonesia poll urged to concede

After two weeks of tallying votes, the election commission announced late on Tuesday that Widodo had beaten Prabowo by about 8.4 million votes.

Social media lit up with comments congratulating the governor, nicknamed Jokowi.

“Indonesia will be a better nation under Jokowi, God bless,” wrote one Twitter user with the name Prettyinpink69.

Prabowo, who has admitted the abduction of democracy activists back in the 1990s and used to be married to one of Suharto’s daughters, had been widely expected to challenge the result in the Constitutional Court if he lost.

But, before the final results were made public, a spokesman for his team said this was no longer an option since they had withdrawn from the whole process.

The decision removes the prospect of prolonged political deadlock because the court would not have ruled until the end of August.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2014