Indonesia election: Joko Widodo wins second term

The Election Commission of Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed that President Joko Widodo has won a second term as president, beating out rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general, by a 55.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent margin.

The commission was expected to announce the official results on Wednesday but, in a surprising move, it was released early on Tuesday hours before opposition protesters were set to protest against the final results, Al Jazeera reports.

Fear of unrest gripped the country after Prabowo had vowed to challenge any victory announced in favour of the incumbent leader.

"This ruling was announced on May 21 ... and will be effectively immediately," said Arief Budiman, the commission's chairman.

However, the local media reported that Prabowo's campaign team and the leading opposition party refused to sign and validate the official results.

It was not clear immediately if Prabowo would mount a legal challenge to the official result, as he did in 2014 after losing the presidential bid to Widodo.

Last month, Indonesia held its biggest-ever election, a massive one day poll featuring more than 190 million registered voters and a record 245,000 candidates vying for the presidency, parliamentary seats and local legislator positions.