MORE than 204 million registered voters visited around 820,000 polling stations across Indonesia on Wednesday as they exercise their right to vote and choose the next set of leaders in the country.
Of the three presidential candidates, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto emerged as the crowd favorite, based on recent opinion polls.
The 72-year-old is also the running mate of incumbent President Joko Widodo’s 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the current mayor of Surakarta.
President Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, is not running again after serving two terms which lasted five years each.
Jokowi’s second term will expire in October 2024.
Around 52 percent of the voters were aged under 40 which meant most of them were millennials and Gen Z.
The statistics urged candidates to find ways to connect themselves with the young people in Indonesia.
Female voters also aim to increase women’s voices in Indonesia politics by electing more women to the parliament.
Under Indonesia’s election laws, a second round of voting must be held if no candidate can achieve more than 50 percent of the votes.
