Golkar leads the tally; PDI-P lowers its target

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Joy filled the ranks of the Golkar Party as early tallies by late Tuesday indicated that the party of the former regime was leading with 20.54 percent of the vote, trailed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 18.22 percent.

The figures were for the election for the House of Representatives (DPR). New parties had a good showing, with the Democratic Party founded by former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ranked third with 10.54 percent followed closely by the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) with 10.46 percent.

"People want serious reform," researcher Rustam Ibrahim said in Jakarta, referring to the new parties' performance.

However, the results as of 11:35 p.m. only included 2,991,927 votes and the race remains open, as some provinces have yet to report their election results. Over 148 million voters were registered for this year's elections.

The party ranking second quickly revised its target of expected gains.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said the party now expected to win only around 30 percent of the vote, compared with its target of 42 percent during the campaign.

"We need to evaluate ourselves ... So far, the result is not as we predicted," Pramono said after a party meeting led by its leader President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He admitted that the PDI-P had a "poor image that hurt the votes" for the party among big city electorates.

The Associated Press quoted Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung as saying, "Of course we are very happy because we have had many problems." Official and final results of the legislative election are not due before April 28.

Before voting day, opinion polls had suggested that Golkar could emerge as the largest party in the legislative bodies although Akbar has been perceived as an electoral liability for Golkar. Fortunately for the party, he was acquitted by the Supreme Court on charges of embezzling Rp 40 billion in state funds.

While many still see it as a legacy of the old days to be rid of, others see that Golkar is capitalizing on disillusionment with the "reform" period following the resignation of strongman Soeharto from his 32-year presidency. In the 1999 election, Golkar ranked second, with 22 percent of the vote.

One of the crucial battlefields for contestants in the legislative election is the capital, where the PKS also led in earlier tallying on Tuesday. By the afternoon only 4 percent of over 6 million expected votes were tallied in Jakarta, from which PKS led with 191,288 votes, slightly above the Democratic Party with 171,224 votes.

The PDI-P ranked a disappointing third with 104,860, while Golkar only came fourth with 67,769 votes.

In North Sumatra, one of the PDI-P's strongholds in the 1999 election, Megawati's party secured only 1,296, or half the 2,556 votes won by Golkar. The PKS also got 1,296 votes.

Golkar left behind other parties with 3,871 votes in West Sumatra, followed by the United Development Party (PPP) with 1,921, the National Mandate Party (PAN) with 1,781 and the PKS with 1,476. The PDI-P won only 204 votes while the National Awakening Party (PKB) got 110.

In South Sulawesi, Golkar scored 203,972, far above the PPP with 26,136, the PKS with 25,086 and PAN with 21,826. The PDI-P won only 5,594.

However, the PDI-P still led the race in Central Java with 59,614 votes. Golkar was second with 35,870 and PKB third with 18,035. In Bali, another PDI-P stronghold, the party scored 66,600 votes, leaving behind Golkar with 19,710.

The PKB secured 177,673 in its stronghold,East Java, followed by the PDI-P with 158,539 and Golkar 106,392. The Democratic Party was fourth with 47,712, followed by the PPP with 36,431.