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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesia presidentÂ’s party leads vote, eyes coalition |
| 2009-04-10 |
| JAKARTA - Indonesia’s president said he would seek coalition partners after early results from elections on Thursday showed his party ahead but not by as much as expected, jeopardising the chance of sweeping reform. A quick count of votes gave the Democrat Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a reform-minded former general who has won praise for his solid leadership of Indonesia, about one fifth of the parliamentary vote. That means his party will have to rely on coalition partners in parliament, reducing the prospects for major economic reforms in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, analysts said. “We offer a partnership in the next government and of course a healthy, more healthy, relationship between the government and parliament,” Yudhoyono told a news conference at his home in Bogor, near the capital Jakarta. “A lot more can be achieved in the next five years.” The Democrats, which have led in most opinion polls, were ahead of PDI-P with about 15 percent and Golkar with 14 percent, based on about 90 percent of the quick count vote sample by the widely followed polling agency LSI. Official results are not expected for days, but they are not likely to differ much. Yudhoyono, 59, is expected to win a second term in the more important presidential election on July 8. But political parties will now start talking to possible coalition partners for parliament—where reforms can be stifled—and Yudhoyono’s choice of ally or allies will determine the extent to which he can improve the judiciary and the civil service as well as clamp down on endemic corruption. Yudhoyono could either continue with his current coalition partner Golkar, the long-time political vehicle for Suharto, the country’s late autocratic ruler, or turn to one or two of the small Islamic parties instead. |
| Posted by:Steve White |