TASIKMALAYA, Indonesia, (Reuters) – The closest and dirtiest presidential race in Indonesia’s young democracy could be decided on Wednesday among the mosques and rice paddies of West Java, the nation’s most populous province.
Former special forces chief Prabowo Subianto and Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo are running neck-and-neck in opinion polls, leaving markets in Southeast Asia’s largest economy under pressure and on tenterhooks awaiting the outcome.
Indonesia’s 190 million voters face a clear choice: the relatively untested, untainted Jokowi or a tough nationalist in Prabowo who has top military leadership experience but is dogged by decades-old allegations of army brutality, which he denies.
“The young democracy of Indonesia is about to face a tough maturity test on July 9,” said Wellian Wiranto, economist at OCBC Bank.
This will be the first time in the world’s third-largest democracy that a directly elected president hands over the reins to another. Outgoing president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has largely disappointed in his last four years, must step down in October after serving a two-term limit.
Voting starts in Indonesia’s distant eastern islands and finishes two time zones away in the densely populated west at 0600 GMT. Early counts by pollsters should give an idea of the outcome fairly soon afterwards.
A Prabowo win is expected to weaken markets due to concerns that he will introduce protectionist policies in the financial and farm sectors, and launch big debt-funded spending projects. Stocks and the rupiah have fallen about 4 percent since mid-May when Jokowi’s big lead in the polls began to slip.
