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| Southeast Asia |
| Yudhoyono leads in Indonesian polls |
| 2004-09-16 |
| Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former general, may win Indonesia's presidential election on Monday on pledges to fight terrorism, cut corruption, and create jobs. Yudhoyono, who pushed President Megawati Soekarnoputri into second place in the first round of voting in July, increased his lead to about 29 percentage points, according to the latest opinion polls, published as the two candidates entered the final day of a three-day formal campaign. Yudhoyono, 55, is seen as tougher on terrorism in a country where three high-profile car bomb attacks -- the latest last week -- killed more than 220 people in two years. Megawati, 57, who brought economic stability in her three-year term, is criticized for failing to reform the legal system and stem corruption, steps needed to woo investors and create jobs for 40 million unemployed. ``Megawati has been asleep at the switch,'' said Robert Appleby, chief investment officer at ADM Capital in Hong Kong, which has $1.2 billion invested in Indonesian and other Asian debt. ``Indonesia needs a leader with a firm hand.'' In a poll by Lembaga Survey Indonesia, carried out after last week's bomb in Jakarta, Yudhoyono is leading Megawati with 61.3 percent to 32.7 percent. The survey of 1,200 respondents in 32 provinces has a 3 percent margin of error. In a survey between Sept. 2 and Sept. 9 -- the day of the bombing -- by the Washington-based International Foundation for Election Systems, Yudhoyono is leading Megawati by 61.2 percent to 29.3 percent. The poll of 2,000 respondents in 32 provinces has a 2.2 percent margin of error. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |