(19 Apr 2017) Preliminary election results on Wednesday showed the minority Christian governor of the Indonesian capital Jakarta was resoundingly defeated by his Muslim challenger, after a campaign that highlighted the country's religious and racial divides.
So called "quick counts" by 10 research companies showed former Cabinet minister Anies Baswedan winning between 55 and 60 percent of votes with more than half of ballots counted.
Incumbent Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama is on trial for blasphemy and hundreds of thousands protested against him in Jakarta, deriding his Chinese ancestry and calling for him to be imprisoned or killed.
Baswedan courted the support of conservative clerics who opposed electing a non-Muslim.
The polarising campaign has undermined Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam and given hardline Islamic groups a national stage.
Ahok's defeat is a setback for his political patron, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
Ahok's rival Baswedan was supported by politicians that Jokowi unexpectedly bested in the 2014 presidential election and who will be seeking to unseat him in 2019.
Ahok, who was Jakarta's first ethnic Chinese governor and first Christian in half a century, has been popular with middle-class Jakartans for his efforts to stamp out corruption in the city administration and make the overflowing polluted capital more livable.
But his brash manner and evictions of slum communities alienated many in the city of 10 million.
Opponents seized their moment last year when a video surfaced of Ahok telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader.
On Thursday, prosecutors will make their sentencing demand in Ahok's trial.
Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Indonesia and punishable by up to five years in prison.
In the north Jakarta neighbourhood of Pantai Mutiara, polling station No. 54 was guarded by police officers, soldier and several public order officers from the city administration.
Several research company releasing exit polls showed Anies Baswedan leading from 85 percent of vote counted.
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