Indonesian president on track for re-election

[July 08, 2009]  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was poised to win his second term in office on the back of recent economic and political stability, according to early returns Wednesday in the country's presidential election.

An unofficial quick count of ballots sampled from 2,000 polling stations gave Yudhoyono 60 percent of the vote, which would be enough to avoid a runoff in September. He needs 50 percent of cast ballots to win in one round.

Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president whose father was the first postcolonial leader of Indonesia, was second at 27 percent, with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at 13 percent.

The preliminary result was based on ballots from all 33 provinces and was conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle, which has accurately forecast previous elections. It was broadcast on TVOne television.

"The vote count is clearly not finished, although quick counts show the success of our struggle," Yudhoyono said in televised comments from his private residence.

But his opponents raised questions about the accuracy of the preliminary result and said they would wait for their own counts before responding.

Kalla said he was "shocked" by the quick counts but said his own election monitors "are confident that the result is not like that."

Secretary-General Pramono Anum of Megawati's leading opposition party, said it was too early to comment because "what is used to determine the winner is not exit polls or quick counts, but official accounting."

An official result is to be released by the National Election Commission by July 27.

Earlier, lines of voters formed at roughly 450,000 polling booths across Indonesia's three time zones, from Aceh in the west to remote Papua province in the far east. Voting passed calmly, with no reports of major incidents when polls closed at 0600GMT (2:00 a.m. EDT).

In Papua -- where a minor insurgency seeking independence from Jakarta has been waged for decades -- 40-year-old elementary school teacher Fransiscus Bokeyau said he had voted for Yudhoyono. "People feel free of fear and peaceful under his leadership. Slowly the standard of living and the economy in Papua are improving," he said.

It was Indonesia's second direct presidential election. Before dictator Suharto was ousted in 1998, Indonesia was under brutal authoritarian rule for three decades, and until recently was wracked by secessionist battles and suicide bombings by al-Qaida-funded Islamic militants. It suffered towering unemployment after the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98.

Today, the predominantly Muslim country of 235 million is enjoying a level of harmony its critics had said was impossible, with its economy growing at 4 percent a year amid a severe global downturn.

"We are optimistic our candidate will win in a single round based on recent poll results," Andi Mallarangeng, Yudhoyono's campaign spokesman, said on the eve of the election. People "want the continuation of stability in politics, security and economy."

In Aceh, where Yudhoyono sealed a peace deal in the aftermath of the December 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 130,000 Indonesians, he also has a strong following.

"SBY has made Aceh safe," said Absah Mustafa, 72.

He resettled hundreds of thousands of people after the disaster "badly destroyed our homeland. He has proven that he is a good leader," Mustafa said.

Yudhoyono's reputation also was boosted by a crackdown on the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network blamed for a series of attacks between 2002 and 2005 that killed more than 240 people, most of them foreign tourists on Bali.

Still, Indonesia faces huge obstacles in fighting severe corruption, attracting foreign investment to improve its crumbling infrastructure, creating an independent judiciary, and reducing poverty of up to 100 million people. It has also struggled to stop illegal logging and mining that are depleting its natural resources and causing global warming.

Most public opinion polls in Indonesia are funded by political parties, but even the surveys paid for by Yudhoyono's opponents before the election put the 59-year-old former general 10 percent ahead of the closest rival.

[Associated Press; By NINIEK KARMINI]

Associated Press reporters Zakki Hakim in Jakarta and Fakhrurradzie Gade in Banda Aceh contributed to this report.

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