Former president and Democratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has congratulated President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo for winning the 2019 presidential election based on the official final vote tally by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
The KPU announced early on Tuesday that Jokowi and running mate Ma’ruf Amin had won the election after garnering 55.5 percent of the votes, against Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno’s 44.4 percent.
Yudhoyono delivered his statement in a nine-minute video distributed on Tuesday evening. The video was apparently recorded in Singapore, where his wife Ani Yudhoyono is currently being treated for cancer.
“Congratulations to Jokowi and Ma’ruf Amin,” Yudhoyono said. "The Indonesian people have trusted them to lead the country for the next five years. I welcome and fully support your commitment to fairly lead the people."
The Democrats were part of the opposition camp endorsing the Prabowo-Sandiaga ticket. The party, along with the National Mandate Party (PAN), accepted the KPU’s final vote tally, while two others — the Gerindra Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) — refused to acknowledge the outcome.
Yudhoyono also lauded Prabowo’s last-minute announcement that he would challenge the results in the Constitutional Court.
“To Prabowo, whatever the court will rule later, history will note you as a constitutionalist, a person who respects the legal system and a champion of democracy: a legacy that will endure,” he said.
Prabowo declared victory multiple times before the KPU announced the final results, suggesting that if the KPU announced otherwise then the process must have been rigged. He also stated previously that he would not dispute the official results via the Constitutional Court. (swd)
