INDONESIA PRESIDENT SUSILO BAMBANG WIN A SECOND 5 -YEAR TERM
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.
INDONESIAN PRESIDENT CLAIMS HIS ENEMIES USE BLACK MAGIC
Incumbent Indonesia president and presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is facing, yet another 'adversary', apart from a challenge by a vice-president and a former president in the run-up to the presidential elections on July 8.
- He claims that black magic is being dabbled by his enemies to derail his efforts for a second five-year term in office, ending 2014.
- "This is an election season. Many are practising black magic. Indeed, my family and I can sense its effects.
- "It's extraordinary. Many methods (of black magic) are being used," he told 3,000 participants of a prayer gathering at his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor.
- He said he chanted prayers as a means to protect himself against black magic attacks from his challengers.
- "I have come to the conclusion that only prayers can defeat black magic attacks. For instance, last night (Friday night), I kept praying all the way to the venue of the debate (the third and final round of presidential debates), along with my wife, aides and driver," he was quoted by Antara news agency on Saturday.
- "I also ask you to pray so that the election will remain free of slander, black campaigns, violence and other kinds of foul play," said the incumbent president who is being challenged by vice-president Jusuf Kalla and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the direct presidential election, involving 175 million registered voters.
- Susilo also asked them to pray so that all sides would accept whatever the outcome of the election, especially for those who had lost so that they would not turn to anarchy.
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