Karishma Vaswani was among ther first to report on Indonesia’s controversial election result,for BBC world news, saying “Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo has been declared the winner of Indonesia’s hotly contested presidential election.”

The election commission reported that Mr Widodo – widely known as Jokowi – won 53.15% of the vote with his rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, getting 46.85%. Security was tight at the time of the announcement, with more than 250,000 uniformed men and women on duty across the nation, amid fears that supporters from both camps could clash.

Around 130 million votes were cast on 9 July following the intense election campaign, which was followed by a controversial vote-counting period where both candidates raised concerns about voting irregularities. However, Mr Widodo’s winning margin of 6% was seen as decisive in the end.

Opponent Mr Subianto had earlier alleged widespread electoral fraud and said he would challenge the result. He is a former general closely associated with the traditional elite and had the backing of media moguls. Indonesia’s politics has traditionally been dominated by establishment figures from the political elite and military. There is a long history of bad faith government in Indonesia and collusion between the military and established big-name families. A former son-in-law of Indonesia’s ex-leader Suharto, Mr Subianto has faced manifold questioning over human rights abuses.

Mr Widodo on his part has promised a decisive break with Indonesia’s authoritarian past and better social welfare for the poor. He was born in 1961 in city of Solo, the son of a wood-seller and began his political career with the PDI-P party when he was elected mayor of Solo in 2005.
Elected for second term in 2010 with more than 90% of the vote he became the elected governor of Jakarta in 2012. The former furniture-maker is seen as a clean politician in touch with the people and as Jakarta governor proved particularly popular with urban and rural young people.

Mr Subianto held a live televised press conference on Tuesday to – angrily – declare his withdrawal.

Jubilant supporters used Twitter to send congratulatory messages about Mr Widodo, using the hashtag #presidenbaru (New President).