REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was declared the winner of Indonesia's presidential election on Tuesday, bringing the promise of major reforms to the world's third largest democracy. The Elections Commission, known as KPU, said the Jakarta governor had won by just over six percentage points, with 53.15 percent of the nearly 130 million votes cast on July 9.

It was the closest and most bitterly fought election in Indonesia's history, pitting Jokowi against former general Prabowo Subianto whose promise of strong leadership brought echoes of decades under autocratic rule.

"Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla had a vote tally of...53.15 percent of the total national vote," said KPU chairman Husni Kamil Manik. "They have been confirmed as the elected president and vice president for the period of 2014-2019."

In an interview with Reuters before the result was announced, Jokowi promised to simplify life for investors by beefing up the country's threadbare infrastructure, unravel near impenetrable regulations and sack ministers if they were not up to the job.

His can-do approach, impatience with bureaucracy and willingness to communicate directly with ordinary people has won him a huge following in a country where close to 40 percent of the population live below or close to the poverty line.

When he moves into the presidential palace in October he will be Indonesia's seventh president, its third to be elected by direct vote and its first to be a businessman and not come from the elite.

Tuesday's vote count nearly came unstuck after his rival accused the KPU of failing to properly investigate allegations of what his team said was widespread cheating.

But, unexpectedly, Prabowo has decided not to challenge the result in the Constitutional Court, his lawyer Mahendradatta said. That could have dragged out the process for several weeks.

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