JAKARTA, 6 July 2004 — Former army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won most votes in Indonesia’s first direct presidential election yesterday but not enough to avoid a second-round runoff, according to a projection of the final result.
Yudhoyono got 33.9 percent compared to 24.9 percent for incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri and 23.8 percent for another ex-general, Wiranto, according to the projection by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI).
Officials who organized the “quick count” projection said a dispute over potentially invalid votes means they cannot forecast with certainty whether Megawati or Wiranto will finish second and go through to the second round on Sept. 20.
The projection was organized by the NDI and a local group called LP3ES. A similar exercise after the April 5 parliamentary election proved accurate.
The projection put National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais fourth with 14.6 percent and current Vice President Hamzah Haz last with 2.9 percent.
Early official Election Commission results gave Yudhoyono 33 percent compared to 27 percent for Megawati, 23 percent for Wiranto, 14 percent for Rais and three percent for Haz.
Some 5.4 million votes have been officially tallied, or about 3.6 percent of the 153 million registered voters. The commission had no turnout figure.
A candidate would have needed over 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.
The NDI stationed observers at each of 2,500 polling stations in every province. They took the certified count from 1,583 of the stations to project the final result.
Yudhoyono’s marked rise in popularity since he quit Megawati’s Cabinet in March was the dominant feature of the month-long election campaign.
As security minister in the world’s largest Muslim nation, he had led the fight against terrorism after the Bali bombings and other attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Yesterday was the first time that Indonesians directly voted for their leader, after decades of authoritarian rule when legislators picked presidents.
“Three cheers for democracy,” enthused a Jakarta Post editorial.
Electors ranging from illiterate tribesmen in Papua province to Javanese rice farmers and Jakarta yuppies seized their historic opportunity despite the scorching tropical sun.
“This election is a big step in Indonesia’s democratic process,” said Election Commission chief Nazaruddin Syamsuddin.
Former army-backed dictator Suharto, who was rubber-stamped into office seven times by legislators during his 32-year rule, was an early voter in the smart Jakarta suburb of Menteng.
He stepped down under pressure in 1998.
“This is a wonderful transition from authoritarian rule to purely democratic rule in just six years and the people of Indonesia are to be congratulated,” said former US President Jimmy Carter, one of almost 600 international poll monitors.
