Indonesian President Widodo wins re-election, official count shows, as opponent refuses to concede

Indonesian President Joko Widodo comfortably won re-election in last month’s poll, an official count showed on Tuesday, as about 1,000 supporters of his opponent, who refused to concede, gathered in the capital in protest at the result.

The General Election Commission (KPU) confirmed unofficial counts by private pollsters in the April 17 election, giving Widodo a 55.5 percent share of votes against 44.5 percent for Prabowo Subianto.

Widodo won more than 85 million votes of a total of 154 million cast in the world’s third-largest democracy. Prabowo told reporters he believed there had been widespread cheating, Reuters reported.

The retired general pledged he would “continue to make legal efforts in line with the constitution to defend the mandate of the people.”