Indonesian leader wins election

By Karishma Vaswani BBC News, Jakarta Profile: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono The Indonesian Election Commission has released its final count of all the votes cast in the 8 July presidential election. The results show that the incumbent, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has 60.8% of the national vote, giving him a resounding victory. The election commission will formally announce the results on Saturday. There are already indications that the results may be challenged by opposition candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri. A former president, she received 26.79% of the votes, while Yusuf Kalla, the vice president, received 12.41% of the vote. It is thought that Megawati Sukarnoputri and her running mate Prabowo Subianto will lodge a complaint about the way the elections were conducted. They had alleged in the run-up to the elections that the voter lists were flawed. According to the election commission, opposition candidates have 72 hours from the time the results are formally announced to challenge them. Corruption clampdown In an unofficial early tally of 2,000 polling stations, Mr Yudhoyono had won around 60% of the popular vote. Indonesians have been impressed by his ability to manage the economy and clamp down on corruption. Most see him as the man who helped to turn their economy around, someone who brought much needed stability and security to this vast archipelago. It was not always so peaceful. In the early part of the decade, Indonesian and foreign lives were lost in a series of deadly attacks across the country. After four years of calm, many inside and outside Indonesia were beginning to believe that things had changed - until last Friday when twin bombs exploded in two luxury hotels in the heart of Jakarta's plush business district killing nine people and injuring dozens more. People in Jakarta were shocked by what happened but still feel President Yudhoyono is the man to lead the nation out of this crisis. The hotels are in Jakarta's central business district President Yudhoyono's popularity is based on his image as a leader who can keep Indonesia safe and political analysts say that these bombings should not do too much damage to his reputation as long as he is able to prevent any further attacks. Sunny Tanuwidjaya is with the Centre of Strategic and International Studies. "What happened last Friday will reduce his popularity but it won't reduce it significantly," he believes. "The people trust him. I think we have to see whether there will be a security problem in the next few months and I think if there is one it will be detrimental to his popularity," he added. President Yudhoyono's campaign slogan in this month's elections was more of the same. By that he meant, more stability, more growth, and more security. He is now under pressure to convince his voters they chose the right man.