Amien Rais throws in the towel on election
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta
Although the July 5 election results have not yet been announced, presidential candidate Amien Rais acknowledged defeat on Friday and is set to meet front-runners Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss their respective platforms.
"Although the KPU will make the official announcement on July 26, the provisional results show a clear indication as to our standing. We are realistic," said the National Mandate Party (PAN) leader, referring to the General Elections Commission (KPU).
It was Amien's first press appearance since the July 5 polls, following his recent return from a minor haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
He said previous reports on planned meetings with Megawati or Susilo were mere rumor, as he had never made such commitments.
Amien, who is also the People's Consultative Assembly speaker, said he was also considering forming an opposition camp in the House of Representatives to monitor the next government.
As of Friday, Amien and running mate Siswono were ranked a distant fourth among the five candidates, after Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla, Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi and Wiranto-Solahuddin Wahid.
Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar are trailing the race.
On Friday, Siswono met Megawati at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta, while a disappointed Amien attributed his defeat to poor advertisement.
He said while a "certain" presidential candidate spent a whopping Rp 400 billion (US$44.4 million) for ads, he could only allocate Rp 3.5 billion.
"That is like a durian against a cucumber," he quipped, citing a renowned Malay idiom that describes a lopsided competition.
The KPU is to have received manual vote-count tallies from all 32 provinces on Friday, and is to unseal the records during a plenary session on Saturday, witnessed by representatives of the five candidates.
Amien said although his campaign team observed many violations during the election, he would not demand a recount, but suggested that the KPU improve its ballot-tallying procedure, particularly manual counts.
He also called for more authority for Regional General Elections Commissions to tally up the ballots in order to reduce the potential for vote-rigging, either at polling stations or by local election committees.
Amien said many of his supporters intended to abstain in the September runoff due to his foreseeable defeat.
"But I think this is counterproductive. I will ask them to choose one of the two remaining candidates," he said.
Amien said similarities existed between Susilo and Megawati because they had worked together in government over the past five years.
"I think expecting a significant distinction between the two ... is simply too high an expectation," he said.
Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim organization and which supported Amien's nomination, announced on Thursday it would let members make their own decisions, including abstention.