Kalla named democracy hero
Andi Hajramuni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar | Tue, 07/28/2009 9:24 AM
Welcome home: A figure from South Sulawesi places a songkok pamiring (a traditional Indonesian hat that usually symbolizes piety) on the Vice President and losing presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla, at his home in Makassar, on Tuesday. Locals have declared Kalla a hero of democracy. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)
The people of South Sulawesi have granted Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) the title of Democracy Hero for conceding his loss and accepting the recent presidential election result.
Ishak Ngeljaratan, a cultural expert at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, said Tuesday that JK has shown that he respects differences and the victory of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
“JK showed this by congratulating SBY and saying he was ready to support the new government,” he said.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) finished counting votes from the recent election last week, officially giving Yudhoyono a second term, with 60.80 percent of the valid votes.
The Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto team received 26.79 percent of the votes with the Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto team receiving 12.41 percent.
Kalla, however, had said that he will challenge the results of the count, though it remains unclear whether he will join forces with Megawati and Prabowo to do so. (dre)
