Jakarta governor Joko Widodo is expected to be declared the winner of Indonesia's disputed presidential election this week but his rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, is set to mount a legal challenge that could prolong the political deadlock.
Both candidates claimed victory in the July 9 poll after a bitterly fought campaign in the world's third-biggest democracy, but reliable pollsters predict Widodo will win by several points when the lengthy vote-counting process is completed. The election was the tightest and most divisive in Indonesia since the downfall of dictator Suharto in 1998, and has emerged as the biggest test yet for the young democracy.
"We've had a very polarised election, one which is very close, which is something that we have not really had before," said veteran Indonesia analyst Kevin Evans. Known by his nickname Jokowi, the Jakarta governor is the first serious presidential contender in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation without links to the autocratic past, and is from a new breed of up and coming politicians. In contrast, Prabowo was the head of the army's special forces in the Suharto era, has been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses and used to be married to one of the dictator's daughters. The results will be announced on Tuesday after some 130 million ballots are counted by hand across the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, that stretches from mountainous Papua in the east to jungle-clad Sumatra in the west.
Tensions have escalated dramatically in the past two weeks as each side accused the other of seeking to rig the outcome, and police will be out in force around the country when the final results are released.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged the candidates to keep supporters off the streets amid fears of unrest, 16 years after thousands were killed when violence swept the country as three decades of authoritarian rule came to a chaotic end.