Although Jakarta’s capital is a different place, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his Advance Indonesia Coalition (KIM Plus ) are on track for a resounding victory in the country’s first simultaneous regional elections on Wednesday ( Nov 27 ).
An outcome of the ruling coalition sweeping key battlegrounds but losing in Jakarta alerts Mr Prabowo’s powerful effect in most of the island, and the dwindling of his opponent’s – Mdm Megawati Soekarnoputri, who’s director of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle ( PDI-P) and Indonesia’s previous leader.
According to “quick counts” by various pollsters, KIM Plus ‘ candidates look set to sweep the key battleground provinces of West Java, Central Java, East Java and North Sumatra.
The gubernatorial three-horse race in the capital Jakarta is still uncertain though the PDI-P’s Mr Pramono Anung is leading, with various quick counts showing he has just under, or over, 50 per cent of the vote.  ,
If no candidate receives more than half the vote, the race will enter a run-off in Jakarta, the only province.
Ridwan Kamil, the Jakarta-based KIM Plus candidate, is in the minority with nearly 40 % of the vote, while Dharma Pongrekun, the independent candidate, has about 10 %.  ,
” From the results of the exit polls and quick counts, which are at about 85 per cent, they show that we are ahead in various regions in Jakarta, almost in all areas”, said Mr Pramono, 61, in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.
The margin of error is “plus or minus 1 %,” according to quick counts. So whether this goes into one round or two, we will be able to find out tonight”, he said.
” We will wait for the real count results, hopefully we can get it soon”.