Golkar steps up pressures on PDI-P in seats race

Golkar steps up pressures on PDI-P in seats race

JAKARTA (JP): The ruling Golkar Party can expect to close in
on runaway polls leader Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) if it maintains its dominance in provinces
outside Java.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the unofficial tally of returns
compiled by Antara from 27 provincial elections committees put
PDI Perjuangan in command. The Megawati Soekarnoputri-led party
totaled 28,920,103 votes for the House of Representatives out of
85,043,333 votes counted.

Golkar collected 18,498,596 votes to stay second in the
provisional standings. Despite the significant margin of more
than 10 million, Golkar could throw the battle for the House
seats open, thanks to its commanding lead in 13 of 27 provinces
across the country.

The ruling party looked invincible in West Sumatra, Riau,
Jambi, Bengkulu, West Nusa Tenggara, East Timor, South
Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi,
Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.

PDI Perjuangan reigned supreme in only 11 provinces, four of
them on highly populated Java.

The Golkar-dominated provinces offer 123 House seats
altogether, almost one-third of the total 462 seats up for grabs
in the general election. The Indonesian Military, whose members
do not vote, is allocated 38 seats.

Golkar could earn half of the seats at stake in the 13
provinces to turn the tables on PDI Perjuangan, which has led the
vote tally since election day on June 7, if the latter finishes
empty-handed in those areas.

According to General Election Law No. 3, a party winning in a
mayoralty or regency earns the minimum allocation of one House
seat. The remaining seats allocated to the province will be
divided among parties which collect enough votes.

Dubbed the "double-standard" formula, the mechanism to
distribute House seats does not guarantee that a party with the
most votes wins the most seats.

This may happen in East Nusa Tenggara, where, according to
Antara's count, PDI Perjuangan will get one more House seat than
Golkar, although it finished second in the vote tally. Golkar
topped the standings with 575,509 votes, ahead of its fierce
rival, which received 543,878 votes. However, the news agency
reported that the opposition party dominated the polls in seven
out of 13 regencies in the province to emerge the true winner.

In Irian Jaya, Golkar moved closer to taking nine of 13 House
seats after a provisional count of the votes in regencies and the
single Jayapura mayoralty put the ruling party in front.

PDI Perjuangan can hope to win the remaining four seats in
Yapen Waropen, Merauke, Puncak Jaya and Mimika regencies.

In East Timor, Antara reported that Golkar and PDI Perjuangan
were expected to share equally the four House seats allocated to
the province. Golkar has so far won 149,716 votes for the House,
against PDI Perjuangan's 112,858, according to the news agency.

With votes from 882 out of 912 polling stations counted, the
two dominant parties left the pack of rivals hapless. Their
nearest contender, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) led by
Budi Hardjono, managed only 9,796 votes as of Tuesday.

An estimated 350,000 people in the former Portuguese colony
cast ballots on June 7, amid heightened tensions in the run-up to
the direct vote to determine the territory's fate in August.

There was a see-saw race in Maluku, with Golkar already
looking like it will secure three out of six House seats after
winning the polls in North Maluku, Central Halmahera and Ternate
regencies, Antara reported.

According to the agency, PDI Perjuangan has also clinched two
seats after coming out the winner in Ambon mayoralty and
Southeast Maluku regency. The party has a good chance of making
it three as it has taken the lead in Central Maluku with 71
percent of the votes counted.

A victory in Ambon would earn PDI Perjuangan secretary-general
Alex Litaay a passage to the House.(34/amd)