Indonesians vote for Jokowi successor; floods disrupt some polling

JAKARTA — Indonesians cast their ballots on Wednesday across the Southeast Asian archipelago in an election headlined by the race to succeed President Joko Widodo, whose influence could determine who takes the helm of the world's third-largest democracy.

Nearly 259,000 candidates are contesting 20,600 posts across 17,000 islands in the world's biggest single-day election, but all eyes are on the presidency and the fate of the ambitious agenda of Widodo after a decade in charge of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The race to replace the popular Widodo, who is widely known as Jokowi, pits two former governors, Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan, against controversial frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander feared in the 1990s as a top lieutenant of Indonesia's late strongman ruler Suharto.

"I want a candidate who will maintain the good policies that have been going on in the past 10 years. If we start over from zero, it will take time,” said Novan Maradona, 42, an entrepreneur, after voting in central Jakarta.

Voters have a six-hour window to cast ballots. Indonesia has three time zones and polling stations in the east have already opened with voting in western areas due to close by 0600 GMT.

Polling got off to a slow start in Jakarta, with big thunderstorms causing flooding in parts of the capital.

The extent of delays was not clear nor whether it would impact voter turnout but Jakarta's disaster management agency shared photographs of a flooded polling station as officials shifted voting materials to a safer location.

Earlier, the election commission said voting could be delayed in 10 villages in Central Java due to flooding.

For some voters bread and butter issues were at the forefront.

"I'm looking for someone who has a good vision to bring changes for Indonesia to get better," said Imah, 52, after voting in South Jakarta. She cited as a mother the importance of staples being affordable and improved state health insurance.

Initial indications of the result are expected to emerge later on Wednesday, based on a sample of votes known as "quick counts". In previous elections, the unofficial counts tabulated by reputable companies have proved to be accurate.

Call for clean election

Defense Minister Prabowo is contesting his third election after twice losing to Jokowi, who is tacitly backing and betting on his former rival as a continuity candidate to preserve his legacy, including a role for his son as Prabowo's running mate.

Jokowi, who cannot run again, has not explicitly backed a candidate but his implied endorsement is rubbing off on Prabowo, with two surveys last week projecting he will win the majority of votes and avoid a second round.

Those surveys showed Prabowo with 51.8% and 51.9% support, with Anies and Ganjar 27 and 31 points adrift, respectively. To win outright, a candidate needs over 50% of votes and to secure 20% of the ballot in half of the country's provinces.

Undecided voters will be critical to former Jakarta governor Anies and the populist ex-Central Java governor Ganjar, to try to force a runoff in June between the top two finishers, a scenario that could shift the dynamic of the presidential race.

"I invite everyone to go to the polling stations. Let’s not waste our voting rights because this will decide our future," Anies said before he was due to vote on Wednesday.

Anies has campaigned on promises of change and preventing a backsliding in the democratic reforms achieved in the 25 years since the end of Suharto's authoritarian, kleptocratic rule.

Ganjar hails from the Democratic Party of Struggle, of which Jokowi is ostensibly a member, and has campaigned largely on continuing the president's policies, but crucially lacks his endorsement.

Before voting, he called for a clean election and "integrity from each organizer" so that candidates could accept the result.

The 72-year-old Prabowo has cultivated a huge youth following on social media, owing to a rebrand that has transformed his image from a fiery-tempered nationalist and military hard man to a cuddly grandfather figure with awkward dance moves.

Prabowo's more gentle characterization, played out largely on short video app TikTok, has endeared him to voters under 40, who make up more than half of the 204.8 million electorate.

But Jokowi's intimated support for Prabowo, plus allegations he interfered in a court ruling to allow his son to contest the vice presidency, have prompted criticism that unlike previous presidents he is not staying neutral over his succession.

His loyalists have rejected that and it is unclear if the allegations will impact Prabowo. — Reuters