Australian govt not worried by slow vote count: Downer
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.