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| Southeast Asia | |
| Indonesian leader wins election | |
| 2009-07-24 | |
| The Indonesian Election Commission has released its final count of all the votes cast in the 8 July presidential election. The results show that the incumbent, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has 60.8% of the national vote, giving him a resounding victory. The election commission will formally announce the results on Saturday. There are already indications that the results may be challenged by opposition candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri. A former president, she received 26.79% of the votes, while Yusuf Kalla, the vice president, received 12.41% of the vote. It is thought that Megawati Sukarnoputri and her running mate Prabowo Subianto will lodge a complaint about the way the elections were conducted. They had alleged in the run-up to the elections that the voter lists were flawed. According to the election commission, opposition candidates have 72 hours from the time the results are formally announced to challenge them. In an unofficial early tally of 2,000 polling stations, Mr Yudhoyono had won around 60% of the popular vote. Indonesians have been impressed by his ability to manage the economy and clamp down on corruption. Most see him as the man who helped to turn their economy around, someone who brought much needed stability and security to this vast archipelago.
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| Posted by:Steve White |