The long wait for the results of the 2024 presidential elections finally ended with an official announcement from General Election Commission (KPU) chairperson Hasyim Asy'ari in Jakarta on Wednesday evening.
Accompanied by other KPU commissioners, he declared Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka as the winners of the presidential race with 96,214,691 of 164,227,475 national valid votes.
Rival candidate pairs — Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md — secured 40,971,906 and 27,040,878 valid votes, respectively.
The KPU also announced the recapitulation of valid votes in 38 provinces for members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
Shortly after the KPU announcement, NasDem Party chairperson Surya Paloh told a press conference in Jakarta that he accepted the official election results of both the parliamentary and presidential elections.
Paloh, whose party was the first to nominate Baswedan for the February 14 presidential election, also congratulated Prabowo-Gibran over their election win.
Related news: Prabowo declared president-elect by poll body
Electoral fraud
NasDem's official stance on the election results aside, Jakarta witnessed a wave of protests from supporters of the Anies-Muhaimin and Ganjar-Mahfud camps over alleged electoral fraud.
On Thursday, the Anies-Muhaimin camp's national team of lawyers filed an election result dispute at Indonesia's Constitutional Court (MK), alleging structured, systematic, and massive electoral fraud in the 2024 General Elections.
Anies Baswedan highlighted the importance of filing the election result dispute at the Constitutional Court, saying that election processes are as indispensable as the results as they are closely related to election legitimacy.
Meanwhile, deputy of the Ganjar-Mahfud camp's team of lawyers, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that his team is ready to file an election result dispute in accordance with the MK's Regulation No.5 of 2023.
Speaking to journalists after an Iftar (breaking-of-the-fast) gathering in Jakarta on Wednesday, Lubis informed that his team of lawyers has prepared the necessary evidence, legal experts, and witnesses for filing the dispute.
Article 475 (1) of Law No.7 of 2017 on General Elections stipulates that a candidate pair can file an election result dispute within three days of the KPU's result announcement.
Based on KPU's announcement, the people's mandate has been given to Prabowo-Gibran, the president- and vice president-elect.
Related news: Jokowi urges residents to report electoral fraud to authorities
Blinken's congratulatory message
In response to the official election result announcement, US Secretary of State, Antony J.Blinken, congratulated Subianto, saying that the United States looks forward to partnering closely with him and his administration after he takes office in October this year.
"As close partners and friends under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, we are working hand-in-hand to deliver a better future for our citizens," he said in a press statement issued by the US Department of State on Wednesday (March 20, 2024).
In his victory speech following the KPU's official announcement, president-elect Subianto promised to steer all citizens on the path to prosperity.
He also pledged to maintain national unity and ensure that the entire nation stays away from division and disunity sown by "imperialists and colonialists."
"It is enough. We had ever been divided and ruled by the imperialists and colonialists for several hundred years," he said in the victory speech that he delivered in front of his home in South Jakarta.
Prabowo further said: "Now, Indonesia is united. Indonesia is powerful. Indonesia is now willing to work for Indonesians, not other people."
National unity will remain intact if political differences between communal groups can be resolved, particularly after the nation has finished all stages of elections, he added.
Trusted leadership
For many ordinary Indonesians, life must go on as usual — no matter who leads Indonesia, or who is elected president/vice president for the 2024–2029 leadership term and officially sworn in on October 20.
What matters to ordinary Indonesians like Nunur, Sujai, and Ahlal, who cast their votes at a polling station in Cikampek, West Java, on election day, is how the elected leaders fulfill their election pledges.
"May we have trusted leaders who are able to provide us with justice and prosperity, and make Indonesia reach food self-sufficiency so that staple food stocks are always safe and affordable," Nunur, a housewife, said.
She highlighted the importance of accelerating efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency to keep the rice price surge witnessed in February this year from recurring.
According to Sujai, a computer programmer, the new president and vice president should be able to manage Indonesia's abundant natural resources properly to bring greater benefits to its people.
Ahlal, an ojek driver in Cikampek, a town in West Java, which lies about 84 kilometers away from the metropolitan city of Jakarta, hopes that under the leadership of the new president and vice president, the Indonesian government would create more decent jobs for young Indonesians.
Related news: Nusantara development likely to continue post-election: BRIN
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
