Jakarta’s presumptive governor-elect, Pramono Anung, has called for the camps of his two electoral opponents and the city’s voters to put their differences aside and reconcile, saying he would be willing to accommodate some of the campaign pledges of his rivals once he takes office.

Former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil admitted that he planned to challenge the election result at the Constitutional Court, but withdrew the plan after consulting with experts and leaders of political parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) that nominated him and his running mate Suswono.

A lawyer for Ridwan’s camp said his team had prepared 97 percent of the documents required for a challenge to the election results and was waiting for final approval from campaign team chief Ahmad Riza Patria to lodge the petition.

Dragging the election through to January would certainly look like a misguided political strategy.

KPU Jakarta has announced the PDI-P candidate’s victory in the three-horse race, but the city’s denizens must still wait for a formal announcement of their new governor and deputy governor as rival KIM pair Ridwan-Suswono prepares to mount a challenge.

The Banjarbaru Elections Commission (KPU) did not provide a blank box to replace a candidate disqualified from the mayoral race, and declared all votes cast for the ousted pair invalid, raising protests among voters.

Candidates from minority groups are projected to win local elections in several regions, prompting hope that it indicates a less discriminatory outlook from voters toward leaders of different genders, ethnicities and faiths.

Political parties backing Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil have begun gearing up for a runoff election despite his main rival having already claimed a single-round victory and the General Elections Commission (KPU) yet to announce the results.

Over a dozen former members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) who ran for regional office this year are expected to have lost their contests, sparking questions about the institution’s image and whether it continues to hold sway over voters.

An SMRC exit poll released on Sunday shows that people who voted for Ridwan were generally unswayed by his endorsement by Prabowo and Jokowi, whereas his rival Pramono appears to have gained from the nods of approval from ex-governors Anies and Basuki to clinch the lead ahead of the formal results on Dec. 15.

The projected outcomes of two uncontested regional head elections indicate that the sole candidates have failed to win their races, a phenomenon experts say reflects signs of dissatisfaction with the dominance of political parties and their candidates.

General Elections Commission (KPU) offices in some regions began balloting over the weekend in several polling stations after floods forced them to postpone the Nov. 27 regional head elections.

Analysts say the major party's election losses in battleground regions, according to provisional results, could distinguish it as an opposition force at a time when most political parties are becoming subsumed under the ruling coalition.

The dismissed poll workers reportedly told the KPU that they had tampered with the ballots to boost the voter turnout figure in their final report and claimed to have no political motives for the illicit act.

The projected outcome of Wednesday’s regional polls has cemented the dominance of President Prabowo Subianto’s big-tent electoral alliance, the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), which was also behind the administration of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, after candidates backed by rival camps suffered upset defeats in a number of key battlegrounds.

In Jakarta, only 57 percent of registered voters voted during Wednesday's gubernatorial election, a trend also witnessed in other regions during this year's simultaneous regional elections, according to data from pollsters and poll bodies.

The families of the deceased poll workers will each receive Rp 36 million (US$2,272) in compensation, in addition to Rp 10 million for burial expenses. 

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair, Megawati Soekarnoputri, says democracy in the country is “dying” as she claims to have received reports about the massive mobilization of regional leaders and security apparatuses during the recent regional head elections.

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Pramono Anung has declared victory in the city’s recent election, despite inconclusive results from pollsters on whether the race will finish in a single round or proceed to a runoff. 

The General Elections Commission (KPU) said its provincial offices will announce the results of the gubernatorial elections by Dec. 15 at the latest, as election workers are still counting the votes through a tiered tabulation process.

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Pramono Anung claims a single-round victory in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, citing a real count result that found him winning more than 50 percent of vote in the city.

Many voters refrained from going to polling stations to cast votes for this year's simultaneous regional elections, with observers and election organizers mostly blaming disasters and political exhaustion as factors discouraging people from voting.

The competition between the ruling Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) did not elude Indonesia’s new Papuan provinces of South Papua, Central Papua, the Papua Highlands and Southwest Papua.

Quick counts indicate that regional head candidates backed by the governing coalition are on course to dominate most key battleground provinces in the country’s first nationwide simultaneous regional elections, solidifying support for President Prabowo Subianto to execute his programs over the next five years.

Despite the relatively peaceful situation, Listyo said security forces remained on high alert, especially during the critical vote-counting phase.

Some 30 percent of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra failed to carry out the voting process after heavy rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides in various parts of the province.

Central Java gubernatorial candidate Ahmad Luthfi and his running mate Taj Yasin Maimoen are likely to have beaten rivals Anika Perkasa and running mate Hendrar Prihadi in the province’s polls on Wednesday, according to preliminary results from pollsters.