Indonesian officials rushed to count ballots yesterday in the country's first presidential election as partial results showed President Megawati Sukarnoputri likely to contest a run-off in September against a former army general.
Megawati's showing so far is stronger than opinion polls suggested before the elections Monday, and some believe she now could pose a serious challenge to front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Sept. 20 second round between the two top vote-getters.
"Neither candidate can take the next election for granted," said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a political analyst. "Megawati faces the possibility of a coalition that goes against her simply because it wants change. Yudhoyono faces an incumbent who can make use of her office to really improve on her performance."
With just under half of the estimated vote counted yesterday, official results showed Yudhoyono leading with 34 percent ahead of Megawati on 27 percent. Another military general, Wiranto, had 22 percent.
Two other candidates shared the remainder of the votes.
Those numbers mirror that of a nationwide vote sample by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, which showed Yudhoyono with 34 percent, Megawati with 26 percent and Wiranto trailing in third place with 23 percent.
The institute, which counted half a million votes from 2,500 selected voting stations, has accurately predicted results in dozens of elections around the world. The study had a margin of error of 1.1 percent.
None of the candidates have conceded yet, and are unlikely to do so until official results are announced on July 26, especially with the battle for the crucial second place so close.
A nationwide recount of millions of ballot initially deemed invalid when voters punched two, not one, holes in them, has also added to counting delays.
The confusion could form the basis of a legal challenge by the losing parties -- an event that is likely to test Indonesia's courts, which have a reputation for corruption and bizarre rulings.
Despite the mix-up, foreign election observers pronounced Monday's balloting a success.
Former US President Jimmy Carter, who helped monitor the voting, met with Megawati afterward to pay his respects.
"We also expressed our opinion that it was an honest, fair and safe election," Carter told reporters yesterday at the State Palace.
The September run-off and possible legal challenges mean continued political uncertainty in the world's most populous Muslim nation, at least in the short term.
Indonesia has seen three presidents in six years, sectarian and separatist violence and terror attacks by Islamic militants that have claimed 214 lives, most of them foreign tourists.
Last month, Yudhoyono warned that rival supporters might clash if there was a runoff and some supporters reiterated the warning this week.
However, widespread violence -- always a threat in previous years -- is seen as unlikely.
Since Megawati became president in 2001, critics said she had abandoned her promises to help the country's impoverished majority. Instead, she remained aloof amid economic problems and pervasive corruption, they said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS