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Annas wins quick count in gubernatorial poll runoff
A quick count conducted by the Indonesian Political Science Association (AIPI) at Riau University (Unri) has found candidate pair Annas Maamun and Arsyadjuliandi Rachman the winners of the second round in the Riau gubernatorial election, which was held on Wednesday
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quick count conducted by the Indonesian Political Science Association (AIPI) at Riau University (Unri) has found candidate pair Annas Maamun and Arsyadjuliandi Rachman the winners of the second round in the Riau gubernatorial election, which was held on Wednesday.
AIPI data showed that the candidate pair, nominated by a coalition of the Golkar Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), garnered 30.69 percent of the ballots. The pair prevailed in eight of Riau's 12 regencies, namely Rokan Hilir, Rokan Hulu, Bengkalis, Siak, Pelalawan, Meranti Islands, Indragiri Hulu and Indragiri Hilir.
Their rivals, Herman Abdullah and his running mate, Agus Widayat, only managed to collect 22.34 percent of the vote. Support for them mostly came from Pekanbaru city and Kampar regency. In Dumai city and Kuantan Sengingi regency, both pairs secured an equal number of votes.
AIPI quick-count team head Hasanuddin said the result proved that the democratic process in Riau had improved.
'The political machine has beaten [a platform] based on culture. Herman relied on the Kampar culture; that's why he only won the most votes in neighboring Kampar and Pekanbaru. Whereas Annas, in contrast, really maximized his position as head of the Golkar Party faction in Riau's Regional Representatives' Council (DPD) to mobilize party members to win the election in the respective regions,' Hasanuddin said.
He pointed out that despite winning the quick count, Annas' victory could only be guaranteed after the Riau General Elections Commission (KPUD) completed its manual vote count.
'The quick count is just an estimate to meet people's anticipation while waiting for the official result from the KPUD. This is also part of our responsibility as academics in serving the needs of the community,' he added.
According to Hasanuddin, the quick count was based on data gathered from 741 polling stations, or 6 percent of the regency's total 11,669 polling stations.
The number of voters stood at 319,621 people, or 8 percent of the 4 million eligible voters, based on the fixed voters' list.
'The number does not cover all areas, as coastal areas were hard to reach, but the samples cover all the 163 districts in Riau,' he said.
He gave his assurances that the quick count was independent and valid, with a trust level of 99 percent and a sampling error of 2 percent.
Preliminary results also showed that the number of abstainers reached 46.97 percent.
'People have become apathetic, as they feel none of the candidates can be trusted. This has presumably resulted from the last two governors being convicted on corruption charges,' he said.
In response to the quick-count result, Annas expressed his gratitude to the people of Riau who supported him.
Separately, Herman vowed he would resume the various programs he promoted during his campaign, even if the Riau KPUD did declare his defeat.
Riau's interim Governor, Djohermansyah Djohan, expressed his appreciation for the peaceful and orderly way in which the election was conducted. He also called on both candidate pairs to wait for the official vote count conducted by the Riau KPUD.
