Indonesian presidential candidates called for calm as the country endures a long wait for official results of this week’s tightly contested election, reports said today.

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo urged the country to unite and put an end to the political polarisation.

Joko declared victory as soon most unofficial quick counts showed him winning Wednesday’s election by about 5 percentage points.

But rival candidate former general Prabowo Subianto claimed that similar counts by pollsters linked to his camp show him winning

The quick counts, as the estimates are known, are based on a sample of the ballots cast in selected polling stations and have accurately predicted the results of previous elections.

The conflicting claims have raised concerns about violence and fraud before the announcement of the official result, scheduled for July 22.

“Whatever our political choice is, we are one nation and brothers,” Joko told Metro TV late yesterday.

He insisted that only fraud could scuttle his election victory and urged supporters to monitor the ballot count.

But Prabowo’s brother, tycoon Hashim Djojohadikusomo, expressed concern that the rival camp might be trying to influence the outcome.

“One of the things that makes us have very little sleep at night is worrying about having our votes threatened,” Hashim said. “We are not the only guys with money.”

Both candidates urged supporters to remain calm as they wait for the official result.

- dpa