A nationalist agenda and a focus on gender issues have pushed Bibit Waluyo and running mate Rustriningsih to an early lead in Sunday's Central Java gubernatorial election.

According to a so-called quick count conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) and Public Issue Network (JIP), Bibit, a former Central Java military commander, and Rustriningsih, the current regent of Kebumen, secured 40.42 percent of the vote.

Bibit and Rustriningsih, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), lead four other pairs of candidates.

Commenting on these early projections, Bibit, a former commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command, thanked God and PDI-P volunteers.

The retired three-star general said his administration would focus on village development programs, as he promised during the campaign.

Bibit's running mate Rustriningsih, the only female candidate in the election, thanked female supporters.

During campaigning, Rustriningsih, a loyal supporter of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, focused on gender equality, reproductive rights and the elimination of domestic violence.

LSI research director Eka Kusmayadi said besides nationalist sentiments and gender issues, Bibit and Rustrinignsih benefited from the "militant" political machinery of PDI-P.

"The PDI-P political machinery is militant and able to mobilize its supporters to polling stations," Eka Kusmayadi said in a press conference in Semarang on Sunday.

According to early returns, Bibit and Rustriningsih won in almost every mayoralty and regency where the mayors and regents are PDI-P members, but lost by small margins in the regencies of Blora, Grobogan, Pati and Rembang, where the candidates Bambang Sadono and running mate Muhammad Adnan are the projected winners.

According to early returns, Bambang and Adnan, nominated by Golkar Party, are second with 22.46 percent of the vote, followed by Sukawi Sutarip-Sudharto (Democratic Party and Prosperous Justice Party) with 15.80 percent; Tamzil-Abdul Rozaq Rais (United Development Party and National Mandate Party) with 11.20 percent; and Agus Soeyitno-Kholiq Arief (National Awakening Party) with 6.11 percent.

Political expert Andreas Pandiangan of Sugijapranata Catholic University said Adnan, Tamzil, Kholiq and Sukawi all competed for and split Muslim votes.

Adnan is chairman of the Central Java chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, while Tamzil, the regent of Kudus, and Kholiq, Wonosobo's regent, are both NU members.

Islamist-leaning PKS, with Semarang Mayor Sukawi as its candidate, could not repeat its surprising success in recent gubernatorial elections in West Java and North Sumatra, despite Sukawi being the richest candidate.

The LSI's Eka Kusmayadi said voter turnout was 54.69 percent, the lowest among all the gubernatorial elections held in the country.

The percentage of those deciding not to vote, locally called golput, exceeded the national gubernatorial election average of 35 percent, he said.

In Banyumas regency, the percentage of golput at many polling stations reached 50 percent.

Eka attributed this to many voters being undecided or having no preference among the five pairs of candidates.

"It's also due to economic reasons. Many of the voters chose to work and skip voting," he said.

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