Howard plans to call RI leader if he wins

Howard plans to call RI leader if he wins

Agencies, Sydney, Australia

The first world leader Prime Minister John Howard plans to call should he win Saturday's federal election is not his great friend and ally, U.S. President George W. Bush, but Indonesia's president-elect.

Giving his last press conference on Friday before the country goes to vote, Howard said that his alliance with the U.S. president, while important, faded into the background as the election drew closer.

"I like George Bush, and the relationship is very important, but when you get into your own election campaign those sorts of things, they do recede a bit, they're not as important," Howard told reporters in Sydney.

Howard said irrespective of whether he won the election, he would eventually speak to Bush, who was gearing up for his second presidential debate on Friday against Democrat candidate Sen. John Kerry.

"One person I will want to speak to if I am returned and will want to speak to soon is the president-elect of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will be a very important figure in our region," Howard said.

Howard, whose conservative coalition government is seeking a fourth term, dismissed suggestions that Yudhoyono would be critical of the coalition's recent proposal of pre-emptive action against terrorists, including striking in Southeast Asian countries where terror groups are operating.

"I think he will understand exactly what I'm talking about, he will know that it is not a threat to Indonesia," Howard said. "It's not a threat because the circumstances in which it might happen are circumstances where another country would be either unable or unwilling (to stop the attack) and I have no doubt the spirit of cooperation between Australia and Indonesia will never see that occur."

Indonesia will inaugurate Yudhoyono as leader on Oct. 20, after he beat President Megawati Soekarnoputri in a landslide victory in elections last month.

Australia's government looked set for a fourth straight term, according to a poll trend released on the eve of Saturday's election, as rival leaders made last-minute pitches over the economy and the U.S.-led Iraq war.

The Reuters Poll Trend showed on Friday the Liberal/National coalition government with a narrow 1.2-point lead over center- left Labor on a two-party preferred basis, where preferences from minor parties are distributed to major parties until a winner is declared.

"This is going to be a much tighter election than the polls show ... I base that on 30 years experience. It's very close and we have this terrible preference problem," Howard said.

Politicians rarely win an outright majority in Australian elections. Casting a ballot is compulsory for the 13 million registered voters, who must number candidates on ballot papers in order of preference.

The poll trend, using three polls taken between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, shows the government with a 6.3-point lead on a primary vote basis, or first count of votes, with 45.4 percent support.

In the 2001 election the government secured 43.1 percent of the primary vote compared with center-left Labor's 37.8 percent.

Howard's government holds 82 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament and would be out of office if it lost seven seats and the support of independents. Labor needs to win 12 seats to claim power.

Howard has said the election could be decided by preferences from the Greens, who have three elected representatives and seven percent support in opinion polls, the most for any minor party.

Analysts say Greens preferences will flow heavily to Labor.

Editorials in major newspapers on Friday tipped a coalition win and bookmakers have installed Howard as a red-hot favorite.

Howard and Labor leader Mark Latham have vowed to keep downward pressure on interest rates, an important pledge for mortgage-laden Australians, and to keep the budget in surplus.