Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto claims presidential election win

Former general Prabowo Subianto has claimed victory in Indonesia's presidential election as preliminary results put him well ahead of his two rivals to lead Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

"All counts, all pollsters... showed figures that Prabowo-Gibran won in one round," he told a cheering crowd at a packed arena in central Jakarta on Wednesday, referring to his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

"This victory should be a victory for all Indonesians."

Official results are not due until next month but at least four government-approved groups — making projections based on official early tallying — showed Subianto winning a clear majority in one round.

Polls have long shown the fiery defence minister to be the favourite for the presidency after he pledged to carry on the agenda of popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo.

While claiming victory, Subianto stressed "we must still wait for KPU's official result", referring to the election commission.

"We believe Indonesian democracy is running well."

'We must unite again'

Subianto, who was a military chief during the Suharto era generation ago, needs more than 50 percent of the overall vote and at least a fifth of ballots cast in over half the country's 38 provinces to secure the presidency.

The 72-year-old Subianto — who pushed street protests and launched legal challenges after losing the previous two elections — thanked his supporters and called for unity.

"Now the campaign is over, we must unite again."

The government-approved polling groups' "quick counts" have also been used in previous elections by candidates to claim victory.

The general election commission verifies and approves an array of pollsters who take samples at selected voting stations after polls have closed, and are allowed to watch the count by election officials.

Fellow candidate Anies Baswedan, who had been the favourite to battle Subianto in the event of a second-round vote, told reporters he would wait for an official announcement.

"We wait until KPU's counting has finished. Don't rush, relax, it's still a long way to go," he said.

But analysts said the projections indicate Subianto has likely avoided a second electoral battle in June against rivals Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.