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Election-Tally-lead

JP/01/PDIP

PDI-P bounces back to top position ahead of Golkar

M. Taufiqurrahman
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

After securing a brief lead in early tallies, the political
vehicle of former president Soeharto, the Golkar Party, dropped
to second place late on Wednesday with 19.98 percent of the vote,
as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) bounced
back to the top position with 20.90 percent.

As of 11 p.m. the counted votes received by the General
Elections Commission (KPU) data center for the House of
Representatives election had reached 18.61 percent or 27,542,869
from an expected total of 148 million registered voters.

In a new development, the party of Vice President Hamzah Haz,
the United Development Party (PPP), which slumped on the first
day of vote counting, jumped with 8.05 percent of the vote
placing it in fourth position, ahead of rising stars -- the
Democratic party, led by former security minister Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, with 7.72 percent, and the Islamic-based Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) with 7.02 percent of the vote.

The party of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the
National Awakening Party (PKB), remained in third place with
13.92 percent of the vote.

In Jakarta, however, the well-established parties lost their
supremacy to PKS and the Democratic Party which by 11 p.m.
accumulated 543,078 votes or 22.77 percent of the vote and
499,893 votes or 20.96 percent of the vote respectively.

The PKS indicated a strong following in the capital when in
the last round of campaigns, it managed to gather more than
100,000 supporters within and around the Senayan Sports stadium,
comparable only to the crowd that gathered for the PDI-P rally.
The two parties appeared to enjoy the largest support during the
22-day campaign period.

The Democratic Party owes much of its current success to
Susilo, who won the public's heart after he resigned from his
ministerial post, saying that he had been left out in the cold by
Megawati in drawing up security policies.

In Central Java, by 11 p.m. one of PDI-P strongholds in the
1999 election, the party garnered 30.22 percent of the vote or
over 1.7 million votes. Golkar was second with 16.73 percent or
barely 942,000 votes and the PKI trailed third with 14.46 percent
or a little over 800,000 votes.

In West Sumatra, however, Golkar took the lead from the
National Mandate Party (PAN) which came a strong second.

Golkar garnered over 120,000 votes or 27.84 percent, while PAN
got over 65,000 votes or 15.01 percent of a total 437,743 votes.

In East Java, the stronghold of PKB, the party ranked first
with over 2.5 million or almost 30 percent of votes, while PDI-P
came second with over 21 percent or nearly 1.85 million votes.

In the West Nusa Tenggara regency of East Lombok, the party of
cleric Zainuddin MZ, the Reform Star Party (PBR) made a strong
debut, ranking third with nearly 12 percent or over 26,000 votes,
while Golkar led with almost 25 percent of votes and the Crescent
Star Party of Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra in second place, with nearly 17 percent of votes.

This year for the first time Indonesians are also voting for
candidates who will sit in the new Regional Representatives
Council (DPD) with four representatives for each province. So far
well-known personalities and their relatives have had the
advantage in the list of scores of unfamiliar names. In
Yogyakarta, the wife of Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, GKR
Hemas, ruled the ballot counting with 3,188 votes as of 5 p.m.

In Central Java, wife of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)
chairman Sahal Mahfudz, Nafisah Sahal, led with 131,176 votes
ahead of former chairman of the Indonesian Teachers Association
Sudharto with 115,830 votes. Local media magnate Budi Santoso who
earlier was coming second, dropped to third position with 114,086
votes.

In South Sulawesi, Asmawati, the only woman candidate
contesting the DPD election, garnered 2,599 votes or 13.48
percent, followed by candidate Jum Perkasa with 1,221 votes or
6.33 percent as of 6 p.m.