JAKARTA: Both candidates claimed victory in Indonesia’s presidential election on Wednesday, suggesting there could be a drawn out constitutional battle to decide who will next lead the world’s third-largest democracy.

Just a few hours after voting closed, Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he had won, based on quick counts of more than 90 per cent of the votes.

A victory for him would be seen as a triumph for a new breed of politicians that has emerged in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, and increase the promise of desperately needed reform in government.

But ex-general Prabowo Subianto, the rival candidate viewed as representative of the old guard that flourished under decades of autocratic rule, said other, unnamed, quick counts of votes favoured him.

Jokowi, on other hand, named tallies by six pollsters, most regarded as reliable and independent. They included three respected, non-partisan agencies — CSIS, Kompas and Saifulmujani — which provided accurate tallies in the April parliamentary election.

The results however are unofficial: the Election Commission will take about two weeks to make an official announcement and the new president is not due to take office until Oct 1.

“There are many quick counts from various survey agencies. But...the one that will be valid according to law in the end will be the verdict of the KPU (Election Commission),” Prabowo told a talk-show on a television channel.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2014