Quick counts confuse S. Sumatra voters

By Khairul Saleh
Source : The Jakarta Post

South Sumatrans have been left confused by different quick count results, with each institution claiming victory for its own candidate and the public having limited access to reliable information.

A full-page advertisement in the local print media congratulated the team of Syahrial Oesman and Helmi Yahya (SOHE) for winning 51.11 percent of votes over Alex Noerdin and Eddy Yusuf (ALDY), with only 49.13 percent of votes.

The advertisement was quoting the quick count result from the Policy and Strategic Development Research Center (Puskaptis), SOHE's campaign adviser.

Another one-page, full-color advertisement printed the quick count results from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and the Indonesian Survey Circle, which both claimed the victory of ALDY over SOHE.

ALDY, according to the advertisement, won 51.22 percent of votes, while SOHE won only 48.78 percent of votes.

The conflicting claims had members of the public turning to whatever information sources were available in an attempt to work out what was really going on with the tallies.

Newspaper vendor Hamdani in Palembang said his 30 copies of newspapers had sold out quickly everyday since the election on Thursday.

"Most of my customers buy the papers for the count results," said the 24-year-old, adding that whatever paper he had for sale always sold out.

"I really wonder about who has exactly won the election. Is it Alex Noerdin or Syahrial Oesman? All have claimed victory," a confused Ujang, 36, of KM 5, Palembang, said Sunday.

Meanwhile, congratulatory bouquets to celebrate victory have been arriving at the residences of both Syahrial and Alex since Thursday evening.

In response to the conflicting counts, Alex asked his constituents to stay calm while waiting for the South Sumatra Regional Election Committee's (KPUD) official tally. He also reminded his supporters not to parade on the streets.

"It's really unnecessary," Alex said.

The KPUD plans to accelerate the central vote recount, moving it forward from its previously scheduled date of September 12-16 to September 8-12. It thus hopes to be able to announce the final election result this Friday.

"We have faxed the letter to the 15 regency/municipal KPUD offices across South Sumatra regarding the accelerated vote counting," Helmi Ibrahim of the South Sumatra KPUD legal division said.