Ex-General May Be Next Indonesian Leader

[Rose Siding]

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian voters appear set to dump President Megawati Sukarnoputri and choose a retired general with a Mr. Clean image as their fourth leader since longtime dictator Suharto was ousted in 1998.

Public opinion polls predict a comfortable win for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Monday's ballot, the first time Indonesians will choose their president directly and a sign of the country's stability despite a string of al-Qaida-linked terror attacks.

"If all goes well Monday, it will cement Indonesia's reputation as a member of the community of democracies," said Paul Rowland of the National Democratic Institute.
.....
Yudhoyono is favored in Washington for his tough stance on terrorism and for cracking down on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant network blamed for a spate of deadly bombings in recent years, including last week's suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy that killed nine people.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-indonesia-election,0,7760232.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[allemand]

1. Bambang looking good for two terms, says analyst

"Ms Jones, South-east Asia director for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the former security minister could stay on as president even if he only wins a first term by a narrow margin in next week's run-off with incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Speaking at a forum organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, she said people power rather than political parties - which were losing their ability to influence voters - was taking over as a decisive factor in elections.

Mr Bambang's clean image and clearly formed policies were popular and his plans to tackle critical problems - among them separatist conflicts and corruption - had further boosted voter confidence, she said.

The former general had the support of 61 per cent of voters, against 29 per cent for Ms Megawati, according to the latest poll by the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems, suggesting he had 'sewn up' the current round, she said."

More:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,273037,00.html

[allemand]

2. Susilo successfully earns PhD in Ag-Econ at IPB (!)

Sounds like an interesting and innovative form of campaigning... :-)

"JAKARTA (Agencies): Presidential hopeful Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono successfully defended on Saturday his doctoral dissertation on agricultural and economic development at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in Bogor, West Java, some 60 km south of here, Metro TV reported.

Susilo, who has been registered as an IPB student at the Agricultural Economy Department since early 2002 was among 24 students, who took part in closed-door examinations by professors at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Meanwhile a spokesman at the Blora Center, a group established to coordinate and manage Susilo's presidential campaign, Usamah Hisyam, said Susilo's dissertation focused on the development of an agricultural economic system, which can be applied in poor rural areas.

"If Susilo is elected as president his dissertation could be directly implemented as a government program," Usamah said as quoted by Antara.

More:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20040918165146&irec=4