"Rival presidential candidates in Indonesia each claim victory" by Niniek Karmini | Associated Press July 10, 2014
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The rival candidates in Indonesia’s presidential election each claimed victory Wednesday, raising uncertainty about the political and legal landscape in a nation that made the transition from dictatorship to democracy less than two decades ago.
According to the three most reputable quick-count surveys, soft-spoken Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo won the election in Southeast Asia’s largest economy with 52 percent of the vote, but his Suharto-era opponent, Prabowo Subianto, said other data indicated he had won. Widodo is the first candidate in an Indonesian direct presidential election with no connection to former dictator Suharto’s 1966-1998 regime and its excesses.
We are seeing this all over the place where people are electing leaders who don't have western taint upon them.
Related:
"In Indonesia, 1965-66, the US embassy and the CIA provided the Indonesian military with lists of the names of PKI militants, which were used by Suharto to crush the PKI regime. This resulted in “one of the worst episodes of mass murder of the twentieth century,” with estimates as high as one million deaths.
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No apology yet?
Looks like the Dutch owe them an apology, too.
The quick counts tally a representative sample of votes cast across the country and have accurately forecast the results of every Indonesian national election since 2004, including this past April’s parliamentary polls. It will be about two weeks before votes are officially tallied and the results announced in Indonesia, a country of 240 million people and the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Well, we know how that goes over here, especially in 2004 when the election was stolen from John Kerry (not that it really would have mattered all that much).
Related:
"Obama's poll numbers have been falling for months, but a recent survey put him at rock-bottom on the list of presidents since World War II. According to The Washington Times, one of several outlets to report on the Quinnipiac University findings:
With Mr. Obama deploying troops to Iraq, failing to find compromise with Congress and seeing major defeats in the Supreme Court, voters continue to sour on him. The new poll also revealed that more voters now say GOP nominee Mitt Romney would have been a better choice in 2012.
"Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
A separate Zogby poll found that nearly half of voters believe that Obama is incapable of leading the country.
He is also losing popularity and support among his base. Chicago residents, most of them African Americans, have ripped Obama for pledging additional funding and support for tens of thousands of illegal aliens pouring across the U.S. border, while ignoring the mounting violence and breakdown of civil society in one of the nation's largest cities.
"With the president setting aside all of these funds for immigrants and forsaking the African American community and African American family, I think that's a disgrace," the man told the blog Rebel Pundit. "He will probably go down as the worst president ever elected. Bill Clinton was the African American president."
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He would be in the same position as Obama now, but at least Mitt would more represent this government.
But this is about Indonesia, not AmeriKa.
This is ‘‘not a victory for the party, not a victory for the campaign team, but this is a victory for the people of Indonesia,’’ Widodo, known by his nickname Jokowi, told supporters from a historical site in Jakarta where the nation’s independence was declared. Supporters later celebrated at a famous traffic circle in the capital, setting off fireworks.
Let's hope it stands.
But Subianto — a general in the Suharto regime and the late dictator’s former son-in-law — said he had different quick-count data showing he had won.
That means he has blood on his hands.
‘‘Thank God, all the data from the quick counts show that we, Prabowo-Hatta, gained the people’s trust,’’ Subianto told a news conference, referring to his running mate, Hatta Rajasa.
‘‘We ask all the coalition’s supporters and Indonesian people to guard and escort this victory until the official count’’ by the election commission, Subianto said.
Later, he told supporters that his opponent went too far by giving a victory speech, saying ‘‘a true warrior does not need to show off his strength,’’ while adding that his camp is not weak and has not given up.
Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged both sides to ‘‘restrain themselves’’ and not allow their supporters to publicly declare victory until the election commission declares the winner. Yudhoyono, also a general in the Suharto regime, was elected president in 2004. He served two five-year terms and was prevented by the constitution from seeking reelection.
Natalia Soebagjo, chair of Transparency International’s executive board in Indonesia, said it was reckless for either candidate to declare victory before the official results are announced. She said that the three most reputable quick-count results showed Widodo as the leader and that she did not trust the surveys Subianto had cited.
‘‘If this continues, I predict in the next 10 days we might see trouble,’’ she said.
‘‘They can contest it in legal terms and in social terms by creating unrest,’’ Soebagjo added. ‘‘It all depends on what these candidates really want. Is their thirst for power so great that they would want to fight it out to the death?’’
That's "our" kind of leader, all right!
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"Questionable result would mar Indonesia’s election" by Chris Blake and Brian Leonal | Bloomberg News July 11, 2014
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Former general Prabowo Subianto’s refusal to accept unofficial counts showing he lost the Indonesia presidential race to Governor Joko Widodo of Jakarta has focused attention on the seven-person body charged with confirming the votes in the third-biggest democracy.
I expect the U.S. to step in any moment and say, hey, it was an election and democracy so leave, general. Of course, who knows what further secrets may be discovered by those without blood on their hands.
I expect the U.S. to step in any moment and say, hey, it was an election and democracy so leave, general. Of course, who knows what further secrets may be discovered by those without blood on their hands.
The General Elections Commission is tallying votes from the July 9 ballot, with official results due in less than two weeks. About 140 million votes need to be added up across an archipelago that would stretch from New York to Alaska, with the numbers passing through village, district, provincial, and regional tabulation centers before reaching Jakarta.
While the election was violence-free and Jakarta’s streets were quiet Thursday, a result seen as questionable by either side risks legal challenges and public protests. Even after the country moved to direct presidential elections a decade ago, having shaken off the rule of dictator Suharto in 1998, graft is widespread, with Indonesia ranked 114th among 177 countries in a 2013 Transparency International corruption perceptions survey.
All the more rea$on to dump the generals.
All the more rea$on to dump the generals.
‘‘This is a test of Indonesia’s democracy, our maturity to practice democracy,’’ said Hikmahanto Juwana, a professor of international law at the University of Indonesia near Jakarta. ‘‘The burden is on the election commission now, and then people must refrain from doing anything that may provoke conflict or social unrest.’’
Most quick counts released after polls closed two days ago show Widodo, 53, known as Jokowi, with a 2-to-6 percentage point lead. If confirmed, it would make him the first leader of Indonesia without ties to Suharto. Such counts conducted by the established survey companies have been accurate in all presidential and parliamentary elections in the past decade.
Indonesian stocks rose Thursday to a one-year high and the rupiah touched the strongest level in seven weeks on the unofficial results.
That would $eem to be a good $ign.
That would $eem to be a good $ign.
Prabowo, 62, who was married to the dictator’s daughter and dismissed from the army for links to human rights abuses, cites counts conducted by companies he uses for guidance showing him with a small lead.
Both candidates, in their victory speeches, called on supporters to guard against attempts to manipulate the official tally.
What machines are they using?
Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose term ends in October, urged supporters on both sides to remain calm after the vote.
What machines are they using?
Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose term ends in October, urged supporters on both sides to remain calm after the vote.
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Even if the true winner takes power he will be hamstrung by the institutions of bureaucracy if not AmeriKan levers of power. Indonesia is important because it secures the bottom of the Pacific against China. If AmeriKa were to lose them.... disaster!
Even if the true winner takes power he will be hamstrung by the institutions of bureaucracy if not AmeriKan levers of power. Indonesia is important because it secures the bottom of the Pacific against China. If AmeriKa were to lose them.... disaster!
