Ryaas reelected as PPDK leader

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: As expected, Ryaas Rasyid was unanimously elected on Sunday as the National Democratic Unity Party (PPDK) leader for the next five years.

Representatives of the party's provincial and regional branches who attended the congress gave Ryaas, a former state minister of regional autonomy, a second mandate as they considered him successful in leading the party in his first term.

In his victory speech, Ryaas pledged to help the new party secure at least 3 percent of the vote in the 2009 legislative election. It won only four House of Representatives seats (less than 1 percent) in the 2004 election. -- Antara