Australian govt not worried by slow vote count: Downer

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Australia said it saw nothing wrong with the slow vote count in Indonesia's first democratic elections in 44 years.

"We have been delighted with the conduct of the Indonesian elections," Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said on Sunday.

"The results are taking a while to come through but that was to be expected," Downer told reporters in Auckland after holding talks with his New Zealand counterpart Don McKinnon.

By Sunday, six days after Indonesians voted, only a quarter of the votes had been counted, and officials did not expect the final result to be known until June 21.

The tardy counting has sparked allegations of fraud in the archipelago, spoiling what turned out to be a relatively peaceful campaign in the world's fourth most populous nation.

But Australia saw no foul play in the wake of the poll held by its nearest Asian neighbor.

"But we don't think that the slow pace of the counting is anything but to be expected in a circumstance like this, and it's worth making the point that when the Philippines had their first democratic elections it was the same thing," Downer said, according to a transcript of the news conference.

As of Sunday, Megawati Soekarnoputri's opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) was leading in the count with close to 40 percent support.

On Friday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said people should stop complaining about the slow vote count in Indonesia and instead applaud a victory for democracy.

Howard said it was important to keep a sense of perspective given that Indonesia had 211 million people grappling with their first taste of unfamiliar freedoms.

"I think it's remarkable, and instead of people whinging about it being slow, why don't they applaud the fact that after 40 years of a pretty authoritarian government, a very authoritarian government, we now have democracy, or the beginnings of democracy, in Indonesia," he told ABC radio.

"Imperfect though it may be, slow though it may be, it will be a huge achievement because the whole campaign was conducted with very little violence."

Howard said the elections were a credit to the Indonesian people and Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie.

"He was the man who brought this about and he deserves credit whatever the outcome and whatever his political future may be," Howard said.

The General Election Commission said the count could be completed by June 21, but it will not be the final official one, which will only be announced on July 8.