Indonesia's voters handed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a second five-year term on Wednesday, placing their faith in his firm but unassuming hand on the economic tiller and his promises of further reform.- Officials results from the election will not be announced until later this month, but "quick count" results which have proved extremely reliable in the past showed Yudhoyono had won enough votes to avoid a second run-off with his nearest rival.
- Not known for jumping to a conclusion, Yudhoyono declared his own resounding victory as the results rolled in from across the archipelago of 226 million people.
- "The quick counts show our success, thanks be to God," the 59-year-old former army general told reporters as jubilant supporters flocked to his home in Bogor, Java island, to congratulate him.
- With virtually all of the LSI polling agency's sample of votes counted, Yudhoyono's tally stood at a commanding 60.82 percent. Other agencies put his score slightly lower, but all showed he was comfortably above the halfway mark needed to avoid a second round.
- The election, only the second direct vote for a president in Indonesia, cements the country's transition to democracy after a chequered history.
- Analysts say Yudhoyono is likely to pick more technocrats, and fewer politicians from among his coalition partners, to fill his next cabinet so that the government can promote reform.
Source: The Star Online
Indonesia's voters handed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a second five-year term on Wednesday, placing their faith in his firm but unassuming hand on the economic tiller and his promises of further reform.
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