Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has congratulated Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto for his formidable performance in the presidential election that took place on Wednesday (Feb. 14), CNA reported.

The 72-year-old has declared victory in the presidential election after quick count results showed him and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka taking the lead with an estimated 58 per cent of the vote.

What are quick count results?

Unofficial early vote count results, also known as quick count results, are released ahead of actual tallied results, which will only be available sometime later.

Votes in Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country, are counted in public by hand.

Registered private polling and survey groups deploy thousands of volunteers and staff to polling stations across Indonesia to collect quick count results.

Unofficial quick count polls and results are mostly considered a reliable indicator of the official results.

The final results will be released by Indonesia's general elections commission by March 20, 2024.

Excellent state of bilateral relations

PM Lee and Prabowo reportedly discussed the "excellent state of bilateral relations" between Singapore and Indonesia, the Prime Minister's press secretary Chang Li Lin said in response to media queries, as reported by CNA.

The two leaders also concurred on the "importance of identifying new and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation", she added.

Reached out to Jokowi

PM Lee also reportedly reached out to incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to congratulate him on the "smooth and successful conduct" of the election polls in Indonesia.

PM Lee and Jokowi had strengthened bilateral ties between Singapore and Indonesia during their terms, Chang added.

This includes the resolution of longstanding bilateral issues, as well as exploring new areas of cooperation, particularly in sustainability, digital economy, and human capital development.

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Top image via Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia.