The Golkar party founded by former dictator Suharto kept its lead yesterday in Indonesia's general election and its leader Akbar Tanjung won support in his bid for the presidency.
With 89 million votes counted after the April 5 poll, Golkar had 20.99 percent compared to 19.67 percent for President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Tanjung has already claimed victory, saying most of the votes still to be tallied will come from his party's powerbase in outlying regions.
Megawati will have to battle to keep her job in a presidential election on July 5 after PDI-P's poor showing compared to 1999, when it took 34 percent of the votes.
Her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose new Democrat party performed strongly in the election, is by far the presidential front-runner, according to opinion surveys.
Tanjung, one of Indonesia's most experienced politicians, will face five other Golkar candidates at a convention on Tuesday to pick the party's presidential candidate.
He was convicted of graft involving food aid for the poor but was cleared in February on appeal to the Supreme Court.
Opinion polls have shown him ranked only fourth or so among people's presidential preferences. But some analysts expect him to secure the nomination given that he has apparently delivered victory in the parliamentary poll.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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