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Indonesia’s Defence Minister, Prabowo Subianto has been declared the winner of last month’s presidential election.
He will assume office in October, taking over from President Joko Widodo, who is more popularly known as Jokowi.
Subianto appealed for unity as his two rivals, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, vowed to contest the result.
The former general, who had been accused of human rights abuse for decades, won 58.59% of the votes.
“For those who didn’t vote for us, give us a chance,” the 72-year-old said after the elections commission announced the official count on Wednesday night.
“We will prove that we are a president and vice president who will work as hard as possible for all the Indonesian people,” he said.
Subianto’s votes exceeded the majority required to avoid a runoff. Mr Anies and Mr Ganjar got 25% and 16%, respectively.
Mr Prabowo claimed victory after the election on 14 February when unofficial tallies showed he had a strong lead over his rivals.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken extended his “sincere congratulations” and applauded Indonesians for “their robust turnout and commitment to democracy and the rule of law”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement that he looked forward “to deepening our strategic partnership even further”, a view echoed by the French foreign ministry.
