Indonesia's Prabowo set to become president

Prabowo Subianto looked set on Thursday to become Indonesia's next president later this year as unofficial counts had the ex-special forces commander winning a hotly contested election outright in the first round of voting, reports Reuters. 

The 72-year-old defence minister declared a "victory for all Indonesians" before jubilant supporters late on Wednesday after so-called quick ballot counts by independent pollsters - accurate in past elections - showed he had won nearly 60 per cent of the votes.

Indonesian markets cheered the clear-cut count and rallied on Prabowo's promise to follow President Joko Widodo's policies in Southeast Asia's largest economy. The country's stock market (.JKSE), opens new tab rose as much as 2.2 per cent, while the rupiah strengthened 0.3 per cent to its strongest in a month before paring back gains.

The veteran politician with a hardline military past had an insurmountable lead over rivals, ex-governors Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, who trailed at least 33 points behind.

A slower, preliminary tally by the election commission with about 40 per cent of votes counted put Prabowo in the lead with around 56 per cent.

Both Anies' and Ganjar's teams earlier said they were probing allegations of "systematic and massive raud", but did not provide evidence.

Analysts have said there were no signs of electoral fraud.

The national election agency is expected to announce official results by March 20 and, if confirmed, the new president will take office in October.