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Indonesian poll peaceful

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JULY 5. Indonesia's first direct presidential poll passed off peacefully today. The former Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took an early lead over the President, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

A dominant theme throughout the campaign was that the poll would result in a run-off as no candidate would be able to get more than 50 per cent. With over 1.8 million votes counted by about 8.30 p.m. Jakarta time, Mr. Susilo was leading with over 33 percentage points, against Ms. Megawati's 28 percentage points. An estimated 80 per cent of the 155 million voters exercised their franchise today.

A "quick-count'' result is expected by Tuesday, while the official announcement may be known only several days later, perhaps even two weeks, according to the latest available indications.

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