he retired Army general Edy Rahmayadi will emerge as the winner of the North Sumatra gubernatorial election on Wednesday, a quick count reveals.
As of 4:15 p.m., Edy and his running mate Musa “Ijeck” Rajekshah led the race as the pair had garnered 59.1 percent of the vote, while rival Djarot Saiful Hidayat and running mate Sihar Storus followed with 40.9 percent, according to pollster Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), whose vote sample reached 88.67 percent at the time of writing.
The retired three-star military general is endorsed by six parties: Gerindra, the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), Hanura and NasDem, which control 60 regional legislative seats.
The Democratic Party later followed suit in May to support Edy after shifting its support from Jopinus Ramli Saragih, who was disqualified from the race for allegedly using a fake diploma during election registration.
Meanwhile, Djarot is only backed by two parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the United Development Party (PPP).
Prior to voting day, pollsters predicted the North Sumatra election would be a close race, as both candidates alternately topped surveys held between April and June.
The province has 9 million eligible voters. (swd)
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