Sjachroedin poised for victory in Lampung gubernatorial race

Oyos Saroso H.N. , The Jakarta Post , Bandarlampung | Thu, 09/04/2008 10:13 AM | Headlines

Sjachroedin Z.P. and his running mate Djoko Umar Said are set to win Wednesday's gubernatorial election in Lampung with 40 percent of votes, quick counts conducted by independent survey institutes indicate.

Political observers initially expected the election to go to a second round because it featured seven candidates.

"The final count will not vary much from quick count results," said Policy and Strategic Development Research Center (Puskaptis) executive director Husin Yasin in Bandarlampung on Wednesday.

With an margin of error of between 1 and 2 percent, quick counts -- carried out using the multistate random sampling method -- provide a rough idea of the final outcome.

Quick counts conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and the Public Information Network (JPI) using samples from 400 polling stations showed Sjachroedin ahead of his rivals, with 41.48 percent of votes.

Alzier Dianis Thabranie and his running mate Bambang Sudibyo were in second place with 20.47 percent, followed by Zulkifli Anwar and his running mate Akhmadi Sumaryanto (17.01 percent), Andy Achmad Sampurnajaya and his running mate Suparjo (9.58 percent).

Rounding out the list were Oemarsono and his running mate Thomas Aziz Riska with 5.48 percent, Muhajir Oetomo and his running mate Andi Arief (3.37 percent) and Sofjan Jacoeb and his running mate Bambang Waluyo Utomo (2.60 percent).

Quick counts by Puskaptis using samples from 330 polling stations showed Sjachroedin leading with 42.05 percent of votes, followed by Alzier with 26.34 percent, Zulkifli with 14.58 percent, Andy Achmad with 8.70 percent, Oemarsono with 3.11 percent, Muhajir with 2.67 percent and Sofjan with 2.43 percent.

The LSI count showed Sjachroedin leading with 41.49 percent, followed by Alzier (21.12 percent), Zulkifli (15.48 percent), Andy Achmad (10.04 percent), Oemarsono (5.76 percent), Muhajir (3.26 percent and Sofjan (2.4 percent).

LSI executive director Saiful Mujani said the final results would not differ much from the quick counts, although the latter were not completely done.

"The difference in results will not exceed two percent, and the election will wrap up in just one round," he said.

However, Chaerullah Gultom, head of the Lampung General Elections Commission (KPUD), said the winner of the election would not be decided based on the results from the quick counts.

"We will still wait for manual counting to be carried out by the official poll committee in subdistricts, districts and regencies. Results will be released in the next two or three days," he said.

Many Lampung residents expressed their enthusiasm at taking part in the first ever direct regional leadership election.

Despite heavy rain in the provincial capital Bandarlampung, eligible voters flocked to polling stations to cast their votes.

Major thoroughfares across the city were deserted as residents erected polling booths, and polling workers were seen wearing traditional attire in a number of polling stations.

Responding to the quick count results, Sjachroedin said his victory was not only for himself and the party nominating him, but also for the people of Lampung who wished for change.

"I express my gratitude to all the people of Lampung as well as other candidates for maintaining peace during the election," he said.

He emphasized he would immediately make good on his promises once officially elected governor, including building the Sunda Strait bridge, provide free education and investment facilities, and establishing an agribusiness center to turn Lampung into an agriculture and bio-ethanol production hub.

Lampung University political observer Ari Darmastuti said the election outcome proved Lampung residents had chosen their new governor wisely.

"Two former governors and two former regents contested the election. Popularity and money aren't everything. Andy Achmad and Alzier are as popular as Sjachroedin, but they fared worse," he said.

As many as 5,393,610 eligible voters from 11 cities and regencies cast their votes at 13,310 polling stations manned by 109,037 poll workers, not including KPU members from provincial, regency and municipal levels.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |