JAKARTA – Former Indonesian education minister, Anies Baswedan, has taken a double digit lead over the incumbent Christian governor in the race to lead the Indonesian capital, unofficial early counting by a private pollster shows.

Baswedan is ahead with 54 percent of the votes versus 45 percent for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as “Ahok”, based on a quick sample count of around 22 percent of the vote by Indikator Politik.

A candidate needs a simple majority to win. The national elections commission will announce official results in early May.

Candidate governor Anies Baswedan sits before casting his vote in the Jakarta governor election in South Jakarta, Indonesia April 19, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

Opinion polls in the run-up to the election had pointed to a dead-heat in the race to govern Jakarta.

The election could be a barometer for the 2019 presidential election, given Jakarta’s outsized importance as both the nation’s capital and commercial centre.

Purnama is backed by President Joko Widodo’s ruling party. Baswedan is supported by a conservative retired general, Prabowo Subianto, who lost to Widodo in a 2014 presidential vote and may challenge him again.

Incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama holds up his ballot before casting his vote in the Jakarta governor election in North Jakarta, Indonesia April 19, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

But the election is also viewed as a test for Indonesia‘s young democracy and record of religious tolerance, with both sides raising concerns about intimidation and voter fraud.

The campaign featured mass rallies led by a hardline Islamist movement, which has strengthened in recent years in a country long dominated by a moderate form of Islam.

Police said 15 people were detained following reports of disturbances at several polling stations in the city of 10 million people, after what the Jakarta Post this week dubbed “the dirtiest, most polarising and most divisive” election campaign the nation had ever seen.

“Political differences should not break our unity,” President Joko Widodo said in a statement after casting his ballot at a central Jakarta polling station. “We are all brothers and sisters. Whoever is elected, we must accept.”

– Reuters