Subianto Rejects Election Results; Widodo set to Overcome Presidential Challenges

In an election that witnessed around 130 million people vote, the third largest democracy in the world - Indonesia - has finally revealed the results declaring Joko Widodo as its new President-elect.

However, his opponent Prabowo Subianto - who staged a dramatic walkout during the tallying of the final votes - refuses to concede; his spokesman Tantowi Yahya said that they were "in the process of preparing our challenge to the Constitutional Court," reports The Australian. But, his lawyer announced later that he would not take the matter to the constitutional court.

If Yahya is to be believed, then political uncertainty will continue to mount for many more weeks, as the court will not issue its ruling until late August.

Hours before the result was announced, Prabowo in a surprise move, announced that he was withdrawing from the race. He blamed Widodo of massive vote fraud.

According to The Guardian, this election has changed the Indonesian political order as the people elected a "man of the people" - who was born in a riverbank slum, worked as a furniture exporter and went up to become Jakarta governor - instead of supporting a Suharto-era general with a brutal past.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times has noted five challenges that the "reform-minded" Widodo will need to overcome once he takes his office in October. The Challenges are:
1. To pick a strong cabinet - Keeping in mind that he has "minimal experience of national government and has shown little interest in intellectual abstraction," Widodo will need to select experienced and knowledgeable individuals in his cabinet

 2. To cut the fuel subsidy bill - An economic adviser warns that Widodo's government will start "broke".  If outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono doesn't take a decision on the fuel subsidy bill (more than $21bn this year and 13 per cent of the budget), Widodo will be under pressure to cut it.

3. To improve the investment climate - The President-elect, who has raised protectionist noises while demonstrating a pragmatic approach to foreign investment in local government, can now grab the opportunity to aid economic growth - which is at its five-year low.

4. To manage relations with his party - Many members of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) did not support his presidential campaign "wholeheartedly" as they felt that this upstart from the provinces was a threat to the established hierarchy and patronage networks within the party. He needs to prove he is his own man and work without alienating his supporters.

5. To manage relations with the House of Representatives - The PDI-P and its coalition parties hold only 37 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives and this will spell trouble for him since his opponent Prabowo's party - Gerindra - is the third biggest party there and the members have refused to accept the election results. Therefore, Widodo needs to manage his relations in the House so that they support him when major decisions need to be taken.