THE presidential race in Indonesia is over and with a clear result. The winner Prabowo Subianto achieved almost 60 per cent of the vote nationwide. The victory is notable for its wide appeal across all demographics including age, race and religion, geography and even party preference.

This surprised some. As recently as end-2023, the consensus among Jakarta-based political analysts was that there would be a second run-off election without anyone receiving more than half the votes.

There were, after all, two formidable contenders – the articulate and clever Anies Baswedan, the former governor of Jakarta, and Ganjar Pranowo, who was backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the country’s largest political force and core of the current government.