JAKARTA, 26 July 2004 - Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono topped the first round of Indonesia's first direct presidential election and will face incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri in a September run-off, the election commission (KPU) said on Monday. Susilo, who rose from rank outsider to hot favorite after resigning from Megawati's cabinet during a heated row earlier this year, had the highest number of votes but less than the 50 percent needed to prevent the Sept. 20 run-off, election commission officials said. Megawati came second in the race among five candidates.
Susilo won 33.5 percent or 39,838,184 of valid votes cast in the July 5 polls, ahead of Megawati with 26.6 percent or 31,569,104. Another former army general, Wiranto, came in third with 22.2 percent. Muslim lawmaker Amien Rais garnered 14.7. Vice President Hamzah Haz came last with 3 percent. Earlier Monday, a small bomb exploded outside the election commission as it was preparing to announce the results. There were no injuries as a result of the blast, which raised fears that the largely peaceful elections could be hit by violence in the weeks to come.
The elections marked the first time that Indonesia's 210 million people voted directly for their president. Foreign election monitors called them free and fair. Despite this, Wiranto has alleged widespread fraud in the vote, and said he intends to challenge the validity of the vote in court. But analysts say Wiranto, the candidate of former dictator Soeharto's Golkar party, has little chance of winning any case.
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