Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/09/2009 8:10 AM
Except in Makassar, South Sulawesi — Jusuf Kalla’s hometown — the SBY-Boediono ticket won the majority of votes in provinces across the country, including in Central Java, a traditional stronghold of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
A quick count by Radio Republic Indonesia (RRI) showed that Kalla, the current vice president, secured 76 percent of ballots tallied in Makassar; Yudhoyono trailed far behind with 16 percent.
Kalla’s victory in his home province apparently defied a recent campaign tactic in Makassar that claimed 2009 was not the year for someone from the province to lead the nation, as the SBY-Boediono was the best choice.
Kalla however lost to Yudhoyono in Gorontalo, where the governor, Fadel Muhammad, an executive member of the Golkar party, nominated Kalla for the presidential race. Yudhoyono won 46 percent
in the province, narrowly securing victory over Kalla by just three percent.
Golkar’s traditional strongholds include West Java, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, North Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara.
In North Sumatra, Yudhoyono secured 74 percent of votes; just 10 percent went to Kalla.
Quick counts revealed surprise result in West Java, with Yudhoyono winning 69 percent of votes to Kalla’s seven.
Kalla was even defeated in the polling station closest to his official residence in Mentang, Central Jakarta, where he and his family cast their votes earlier in the day.
In the run up to the election, many had forecast Kalla would be victorious in Aceh, Ambon
and Maluku because of his role in bringing peace to the once-restive provinces.
But, according to the quick counts, Yudhoyono won 85 percent of votes in Aceh, dwarfing Kalla’s six percent.
Deputy chairman of the Aceh regional elections commission, Ilham Saputra, said that the results of temporary vote counting showed 92 percent of votes in the area went to Yudhoyono.
A number of polling institutes, including the Indonesian Survey Institute, the Indonesian Survey Circle, the LP3ES, Johan Polling and Cirrus, as well as well as quick counts by Metro TV, TV One and SCTV show the SBY-Boediono ticket has a clear lead.
