And the winner is

And the winner is

Indonesia's transformation to democracy in a few short years has been described as nothing short of amazing.

Fears after the secession of East Timor in 2002 that the vast archipelago of the world's fourth most populous nation would fall apart under the pressures and promises of the ballot box have proved unfounded. The conduct of its first direct presidential poll, whose first-round counting was completed on Monday, has been remarkably peaceful, notwithstanding the odd bomb blast or two.

The reformasi protests that unseated the Soeharto regime in 1998 did not provide the boilerplate for national elections this year. On the contrary, campaigning was more razzmatazz than rabble-rousing. Unlike other claimants to the democratic crown in Southeast Asia, the presidential contenders were polite to a fault. There were grumbles of vote fraud, but none serious enough to rock the electoral boat.

Like the region's other exuberant democracies, however, critics like to point out that Indonesia's politics continues to elevate personality over policy. The two leading candidates who will face a run-off election in September, Lt. Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Megawati Soekarnoputri, fought on popular appeal rather than program manifestoes.

Even so, charisma has probably reached its limits. In what is expected to be a close race, Megawati's better organized Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will have the advantage over Susilo's fledgling Democratic Party. The influence of Golkar, the country's largest party whose candidate General Wiranto was knocked out in the first round, is likely to be decisive. Whatever the outcome, a direct mandate will strengthen the new president's hand in enacting much-needed reforms. And whoever emerges victorious, the real winners of the country's complex set of elections in 2004 will at long last be the Indonesian people.

-- New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur