It's a fight for second as Susilo's lead widens

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Election front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono widened his lead in the provisional tallying on Tuesday, making the contest a battle for second place to challenge the retired general in the runoff.

With 48.3 million votes counted by 10:30 Tuesday night, Susilo had already garnered 16.2 million or 33.52 percent of the votes.

Incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is seeking a full five- year mandate, trailed behind Susilo with 26.69 percent of the vote, followed by Wiranto with 22.14 percent, Amien Rais 14.43 percent and Hamzah Haz 3.22 percent.

Susilo, who paid a brief visit to the national tabulation center on Tuesday, expressed optimism that he would come out as winner in the first round of the election by garnering 35 percent of the vote.

A quick count by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) showed that Susilo, who resigned from his post as coordinating minister for political and security affairs in March, would win the election with 33.9 percent of the vote.

Preelection surveys suggested that Susilo would win the first round of the election with more than 40 percent of the vote.

At least 155 million voters were registered for the country's first direct presidential election on July 5, but voter turnout has not been clarified.

"I am ready to enter the second round of the presidential election. I am ready to face my competitor, whoever they may be. Ibu Mega or Pak Wiranto -- each has their own strengths and weaknesses," he said.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) will officially announce the results on July 26. The likely runoff is scheduled to take place on Sept. 20., and the new president will be sworn in on Oct. 20.

While the votes trickled in, Susilo took the lead in most of the country's 33 provinces, with Megawati leading in traditional strongholds only.

In East Java, a traditional stronghold of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Susilo garnered around 4.39 million votes, coming in just behind Megawati with 3.48 million. Wiranto came in third with 2.88 million votes.

In Jakarta, Susilo took the lead with 920,397 votes, followed by Amien 684,453 and Megawati 547,131 votes. In West Java, Susilo lead the tally with 3.2 million votes, followed by Wiranto, 2.4 million, and Megawati, 2.2 million.

Megawati, however, still maintained the top position in a number of provinces, which constitute strongholds of the PDI-P, such as Bali, North Sumatra and Central Java.

In Central Java, Megawati led with 3.5 million votes, leaving Susilo behind with 3.1 million. In North Sumatra, Susilo trailed with only 242,342 votes, behind Megawati's 285,715.

However, the contest between Megawati, Amien and Susilo was apparently tighter at overseas polling stations. In Australia for example, Megawati came in first in cities like Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, while Amien took the leading position in the capital Canberra.

Susilo stole victory in the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

The final result of a "quick count" conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research and Education in collaboration with the Washington, U.S.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) revealed that Susilo would contest the runoff after garnering 33.2 percent of the vote. However, the survey fell short of naming which candidate -- Megawati or Wiranto -- would challenge him.

In a related development, a substantial number of polling stations throughout the country embarked on recounts as a consequence of the double-puncture debacle that took place on election day.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, poll committees (PPS) had to hold recounts at 2,963 polling stations in 143 subdistricts.

An official with the Makassar Elections Commission (KPUD) said that the recount would only be conducted for ballots that had been rendered invalid.

In Bandung, West Java, the KPUD recounted over 25,000 ballots from 521 polling stations after witnesses deployed by candidates' teams complained over the high number of invalid ballots.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, the local elections commission said that recounts at over 11,000 polling stations were far from over.