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| Wednesday, 7 April 2004 |
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Megawati's party holds slim lead in Indonesia poll JAKARTA, Tuesday (Reuters) The political party of President Megawati Sukarnoputri held a slim lead on Tuesday following Indonesia's parliamentary elections, but with less than one percent of the vote counted the race is wide open. From results so far, Megawati's Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) leads with 20 percent, followed closely by the party of former President Abdurrahman Wahid. Golkar, the former vehicle of ousted autocrat Suharto, is third. Most opinion polls show Golkar likely to get most votes, although not a majority, as many yearn for the firm leadership and rapid economic growth that marked Suharto's 32-year rule. Those sentiments were echoed widely during elections on Monday across the world's most populous Muslim nation. Soon after dawn, the General Election Commission announced results from a mere 400,000 votes out of an electorate of 147 million eligible voters. It is posting results on its Web site. The trickle of results harks bark to the last parliamentary poll in 1999 when the full count took weeks to complete. Election officials were not available for comment but had said a significant number of votes this time should be counted within one to two days, thanks to improved technology. A win for Golkar - which has sought to distance itself from Suharto while taking credit for economic growth then - could badly dent Megawati's chances of winning a second term in Indonesia's first direct presidential election on July 5. |
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