Strategic campaigning laid foundation for Prabowo's expected rise

He has the experience to govern Indonesia effectively, represent nation globally: Experts

- Hariz Baharudin

JAKARTA - Wrapping up the Indonesian presidential election in a single round is a feat for Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto that surpasses expectations, said experts, noting that the electoral gains he made reflect a well-thought-out campaign that spoke to people across the archipelago.

Despite his chequered past, Mr Prabowo, 72, has the political experience to govern Indonesia effectively and represent Indonesia on the international stage, added these observers.

They spoke to The Straits Times after unofficial quick count results from the Feb 14 election indicated that Mr Prabowo had won Indonesia's presidency with nearly 60 per cent of the vote.

With more than 205 million Indonesians qualified to vote on Feb 14, the nation is the world's third-largest democracy.

Mr Prabowo declared victory for himself and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the Mayor of Solo and son of President Joko Widodo, in front of thousands of supporters at a packed stadium in Jakarta hours after polls closed earlier that day.

Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at policy and business consultancy Solaris Strategies Singapore, said garnering enough votes to avoid a run-off election in one of the world's largest democracies shows that Mr Prabowo has worked hard to deserve the victory.

A run-off election has to be held if no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the votes in the first round.

The last time Indonesia went to a run-off election was in 2004, when Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono went up against Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri after they emerged as the top two among five candidates in the first round.

"Despite the criticisms levelled against him, Prabowo was able to surmount them, prove his critics wrong and defeat his competitors quite resoundingly," said Dr Mustafa, who is also a visiting professor in international relations at the Islamic University of Indonesia.