Golkar leads lonely Aceh balloting

LHOKSEUMAWE, North Aceh: Golkar Party shrugged off a low voter turnout to take a provisional lead in the ballot counting here on Tuesday.

The polling place at Sudirman Square was the only one to have finished tallying, with Golkar winning 396 votes for the House of Representatives. The National Mandate Party was second with 243, followed by the Justice and Unity Party with 132.

At the town's other polling site in Hira district, election committee workers were seen relaxing and chatting with each other.

Elsewhere in East Aceh, only two out of eight polling stations in Santalira Bayu and Lhoksukon districts were functioning, with a few hundred voters queuing to vote. Polling booths in Lhoksukon did not have curtains, allowing people to see which party a voter chose.

A local election committee member, Burhanuddin, said many people were afraid to go to the polls due to threats from antigovernment groups.

Burhanuddin said balloting in troubled Peudada, Sawang and Nisam districts was canceled because people living nearby had fled their homes.

Meanwhile, a group of unidentified people set on fire an elementary school building in Santalira Bayu, just 300 meters away from military and police offices. (46)