Final results will not be officially released until later this month, but a sampling of nationwide ballots cast in Indonesia's presidential election on Wednesday indicates that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will easily win a second term in office. So commanding is SBY's lead (it's estimated he has won 62 per cent of the vote, as against 26.6 per cent and 12 per cent for rival contenders Megawati Sukarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla, the current vice-president) that a run-off election in September is now unlikely.
The retired general will become the first Indonesian president to win re-election since the country took its first tentative steps towards democratic government following the fall of General Suharto in May, 1998.
What is probably more noteworthy, however, is that unlike previous elections, this one was largely free of allegations or instances of tampering, interference or plain bad feeling. Indeed, the candidates remained politely civil to each other throughout, and this, together with the fact that Yudhoyono was always favoured to win, meant the election generated few headlines elsewhere in the region.
On a more fundamental level, however, the low-key, trouble-free nature of the election suggests not only that Indonesia is now largely rid of the internal tensions and pressures that have bedeviled it in the past, but that its transformation from military-backed authoritarian government to full fledged democracy is now more or less a reality.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
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