Initial results from Jakarta’s governor election, billed as a crucial test of Indonesia’s pluralism, indicate the tight race will go to a second round.
Several unofficial quick counts show the incumbent governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok, and challenger Anies Baswedan are neck and neck.
A count by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting put Ahok in the lead with 43.08%, ahead of Baswedan, the former education minister, on 40.14%.
Quick counts are based on random sampling of votes from polling stations and are often used in Indonesia, where it can take weeks for official results to be announced. Official results are not expected until early March.
If neither candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, they will face off in a second round in April, and the third contender, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, son of a former president, will be knocked out.
The election in the capital of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation has been deeply contentious.
Ahok, a Christian from the country’s ethnic Chinese minority, was favourite to win the vote until he became embroiled in a blasphemy scandal in which he was accused of insulting Islam on the campaign trail.
Mass protests by religious hardliners and legal proceedings followed, and Ahok was forced to defend himself from the charges, which many believe are politically motivated. His popularity took a hit, although he retained a slight lead before Wednesday’s vote.
“The blasphemy case – that is 100% made up by the opposition parties. Many of my friends are Muslim and they are choosing him as well,” said Rene, 33, after voting in south Jakarta. “I think most Jakarta people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, if they think clearly, they will choose him.”
Straight-talking, sometimes brash, Ahok has been credited with delivering important changes in the capital, such as mitigating floods and facilitating much-needed infrastructure.
His rivals aggressively courted the Islamic vote, and, at a time when the country is grappling with the relationship between religion and state, the blasphemy accusations churned up underlying resentment against Indonesia’s often wealthier Chinese ethnic minority.
Jaswandi Suhardono, 42, a technician at a private hospital, said he voted for Baswedan on religious grounds.
“I don’t have a problem that Ahok is a non-Muslim, but as a Muslim I believe there is one faith that I should trust,” he said. “And in the Qur’an it says that we must choose leaders that are also Muslim.”
After casting his own vote, Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, urged Indonesians not to allow political differences to undermine national unity.
