I

ncumbent Pontianak mayor, Sutarmidji, has claimed victory in the Pontianak mayoral election. Sutarmidji cited the results of a quick count organized by his own media center team who found that he had secured more than 50 percent of the vote.

Media center coordinator Muhtadi Abdullah said the Sutarmidji-Edi Kamtono ticket had won by a landslide with 52.71 percent of the vote, followed bydeputy mayor Paryadi and running mate Sebastian with 20.04 percent of the vote.

The third place was secured by the Firman Muntaco- Erick S. Martio ticket, which gained 19.46 percent of the vote and closely behind them was the Gusti Hersan Aslirosa- Syarif Ismail ticket at 3,22 percent. The independentZulkarnaen Siregar-Paryono ticket secured 2.32 percent and in last place were Iwan Gunawan-Andreas Acui Simanjaya, also independents, with 1.97 percent of the vote.

Pontianak City General Elections Commission chief Joni Rudwin, however, said that the commission would make no announcement before its Sept. 24 plenary meeting.

'€œWe can hold the recapitulation as early as Sept. 24 as Pontianak city consists of only six districts,'€ Joni told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

On Thursday, three regencies, Pontianak, Sanggau and Kubu Raya in West Kalimantan, also organized regency elections. Incumbent regent Ria Norsan swept to victory in Pontianak, while current deputy regent Paulus Hadi won the Sanggau election. Meanwhile incumbent Muda Mahendrawan was beaten by his rival Rusman Ali who secured victory in the Kubu Raya election. (hrl/dic)