Surabaya, NU Online
The second round of the East Java gubernatorial election saw a mere 54 percent voter turnout on Tuesday, with quick-count results giving Khofifah Indar Parawansa and her running mate Mudjiono a slim lead.
The results showed only 15 million of 29.2 million eligible voters cast their ballots.<>
Airlangga University economist Indra Nurfauzi said many analysts had predicted the high number of voter absenteeism as an indication of voters’ lack of confidence in the two candidates’ “poor concept” and programs for change in the province.
The East Java General Elections Commission (KPUD), the provincial election supervisory committee (Panwaslu) and security authorities lauded the peaceful vote that was marred only by minor violations.
The result of quick counts conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) and the Public Issue Networks (JIP) at 400 polling stations across the province showed Khofifah-Mudjiono (Kaji) winning 50.76 percent of total votes, while rival Soekarwo and his running mate Saifullah Yusuf (Karsa) took 49.24 percent.
Karsa, nominated by the National Mandate party (PAN) and the Democratic Party, dominated several regencies, including Madura, Ponorogo and Pacitan; while Kaji proved more popular in Bondowoso, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Blitar, Pasuruan, Madiun and Kediri.
Both pollsters were undecided over the quick-count results, citing Kaji’s less than 2 percent lead over Karsa and a margin of error in the surveys of 1 percent.
A quick count conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) gave Kaji 50.55 percent of votes and Karsa 49.45 percent, with a margin of error of 1 percent.
“With this margin of error, we cannot say decisively who the winner of this second round is; it will depend on the final result of the KPUD’s manual count,” said LSI researcher Adam Kamil.
“The survey was conducted proportionally in 400 polling stations in 38 regencies and municipalities.”
Adam reminded the KPUD, Panwaslu and the rival campaign teams of vote rigging and other violations during the vote counting.
He added the decisive factor in Kaji’s narrow lead was former president Megawati Soekarnoputri’s instructing supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to vote for Khofifah.
Khofifah and Soekarwo both said they would accept the final tally announced by the KPUD after a manual count, despite the quick-count results.
Both candidates also pledged that they and their supporters would not interfere in the KPUD’s count, and called on their campaign teams and security authorities to closely monitor the counting.
“If I finally win the election, it will be a victory for the people of East Java,” Khofifah said.
“Mudjiono and I are committed to carrying out our concrete programs to make changes in the next five years.”
Khofifah, considered the weaker candidate in several previous surveys, acknowledged that Megawati and the PDI-P had made a decisive contribution to her slight lead in the neck-and-neck gubernatorial race.
“If I am declared the winner, I will fully support Megawati’s bid for the presidency in 2009,” she said after watching TV broadcasts of quick-count results at her residence in the Deltasera housing complex in Sidoarjo. (jp/dar)
The second round of the East Java gubernatorial election saw a mere 54 percent voter turnout on Tuesday, with quick-count results giving Khofifah Indar Parawansa and her running mate Mudjiono a slim lead.
The results showed only 15 million of 29.2 million eligible voters cast their ballots.<>
Airlangga University economist Indra Nurfauzi said many analysts had predicted the high number of voter absenteeism as an indication of voters’ lack of confidence in the two candidates’ “poor concept” and programs for change in the province.
The East Java General Elections Commission (KPUD), the provincial election supervisory committee (Panwaslu) and security authorities lauded the peaceful vote that was marred only by minor violations.
The result of quick counts conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) and the Public Issue Networks (JIP) at 400 polling stations across the province showed Khofifah-Mudjiono (Kaji) winning 50.76 percent of total votes, while rival Soekarwo and his running mate Saifullah Yusuf (Karsa) took 49.24 percent.
Karsa, nominated by the National Mandate party (PAN) and the Democratic Party, dominated several regencies, including Madura, Ponorogo and Pacitan; while Kaji proved more popular in Bondowoso, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Blitar, Pasuruan, Madiun and Kediri.
Both pollsters were undecided over the quick-count results, citing Kaji’s less than 2 percent lead over Karsa and a margin of error in the surveys of 1 percent.
A quick count conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) gave Kaji 50.55 percent of votes and Karsa 49.45 percent, with a margin of error of 1 percent.
“With this margin of error, we cannot say decisively who the winner of this second round is; it will depend on the final result of the KPUD’s manual count,” said LSI researcher Adam Kamil.
“The survey was conducted proportionally in 400 polling stations in 38 regencies and municipalities.”
Adam reminded the KPUD, Panwaslu and the rival campaign teams of vote rigging and other violations during the vote counting.
He added the decisive factor in Kaji’s narrow lead was former president Megawati Soekarnoputri’s instructing supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to vote for Khofifah.
Khofifah and Soekarwo both said they would accept the final tally announced by the KPUD after a manual count, despite the quick-count results.
Both candidates also pledged that they and their supporters would not interfere in the KPUD’s count, and called on their campaign teams and security authorities to closely monitor the counting.
“If I finally win the election, it will be a victory for the people of East Java,” Khofifah said.
“Mudjiono and I are committed to carrying out our concrete programs to make changes in the next five years.”
Khofifah, considered the weaker candidate in several previous surveys, acknowledged that Megawati and the PDI-P had made a decisive contribution to her slight lead in the neck-and-neck gubernatorial race.
“If I am declared the winner, I will fully support Megawati’s bid for the presidency in 2009,” she said after watching TV broadcasts of quick-count results at her residence in the Deltasera housing complex in Sidoarjo. (jp/dar)
