JAKARTA, 27 August 2004 - Presidential front runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won support from an increasingly popular Islamic party in his first formal political deal as a survey showed he had widened his lead over incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri. The Justice and Prosperity Party - which will be the sixth-biggest party with 45 seats in the next parliament - became the first yesterday to declare its support for him in next month's run-off election.
The announcement came a day after Washington-based pollster International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) said its latest poll showed 62.4 per cent of those surveyed indicated they would vote for Mr Bambang, while 28.3 per cent would vote for Ms Megawati. About 10 per cent of the 1,250 people surveyed nationwide between Aug 7 and 14 kept their choice secret or were undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 per cent.
The Justice and Prosperity party finished fifth in April's parliamentary election with 8.4 million votes - a sharp improvement on its performance in the 1999 election, when it won just one million. 'We realise that the aim of the election is not merely the change of power, but also the change of conditions that enable us to reach the goals of justice and prosperity for all Indonesians,' said party president Hidayat Nurwahid. He told a joint press conference that both sides wanted 'a clean, professional...and democratic government in line with the reform agenda'.
'We will set up a good, clean, transparent, accountable government for justice and prosperity,' said Mr Bambang. Ms Megawati finished second in the first round of the presidential poll with 26.29 per cent of the vote. Mr Bambang won the July 5 round with 33.58 per cent of the vote. The Ifes survey appears to go against the opinion of many political analysts, who believe Ms Megawati is closing the gap.
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