Prabowo Subianto, the challenger, has claimed victory in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election -- despite the official results not being released yet and quick count numbers not in his favour.

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On the night of April 17, the day of elections, Prabowo said that he will be the next President of Indonesia, reported the Jakarta Post.

This was, according to him, based on a "real count" from more than 320 polling stations, which supposedly gave him a commanding majority of 62 percent of the votes cast.

I am President

Speaking to reporters at his home in South Jakarta, Prabowo said: "I am and will always be the president of the Indonesian people... For those who have supported (Jokowi), I will also embrace you all."

Prabowo added that he had consulted "statistics experts" who told him that the final result will not differ "much" from this initial estimate.

These experts were at odds with other quick count results, which gave the incumbent President Joko Widodo a big average lead of around 11 points.

Prabowo said: "We will avoid taking any unconstitutional actions because we have already won."

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Hold your horses

Meanwhile, Commissioner Pramono Ubaid of Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU) has advised both candidates not to declare victory yet, until the final official results are in, according to Tempo.

Pramono said on April 17: "We hope the winning claims would only be done after KPU releases its official result."

KPU also asked each candidate to help rein in their supporters and prevent them from taking any illegal action related to the announcement of the results.

"The law provides the proper mechanism to deliver objections," added Pramono.

Meanwhile in Singapore

Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has also refrained from congratulating either candidate.

Instead, in a Facebook post on April 17, he congratulated the Indonesian people as a whole on the "smooth and peaceful conduct" of the elections.

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Top image from Prabowo Subianto's Facebook page.