West Java Governor’s Election: Ahmad-Dede Leading
Monday, 14 April, 2008 | 14:49 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Candidates for West Java governor and vice governor, Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf, are leading the voting over four other candidates. West Java General Elections Commission (KPU) recorded that Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf gained 39.21 percent of the votes or 140,435 people.

Spokesperson of West Java KPU, Heri Suherman, said that the voting was from eight out of 26 cities and districts in West Java.

The other candidates obtained the following results: Agum Gumelar-Nu'man Abdul Hakim 112,033 (31.28 percent) and Danny Setiawan-Iwan Sulanjana 112,033 (29 percent).

The towns that have completed the election process are: Garut, Purwakarta, Sukabumi, Tasikmalaya, Bandung, and Banjar.

Ahmad-Dede are leading the voting in Bandung, Garut, Cimahi, and Tasikmalaya. Danni Setiawan-Iwan Sulanjana are ahead in Purwakarta and Banjar, while Agum Gumelar-Nu'man Abdul Hakim are in the lead in Sukabumi and Bandung.

The quick count systems by the Indonesia Survey Institute (LSI) shows 39.63 percent for Ahmad-Dede. “But our survey is only from 350 election sites out of 63 thousand in West Java,” said Imam Suherman from LSI.

The political parties supporting Ahmad-Dede also did a quick count. The result from Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) at 04.30pm showed 38.2 percent for Ahmad-Dede.

Ahmad and Dede are happy with this initial result. Ahmad said that he was not surprised to see the quick count result from the three institutions. He is optimistic that he will win the election.

The success team of Danny Setiawan is surprised with this result. Huzainal, a member of the team, said that low participation from the community caused minimal voting for Danny-Iwan.

The team for Agum Gumelar considers the lead of Ahmad-Dede is an anomaly. Agum thought Danni and Iwan would be his tough competitors. However, Agum is optimistic that he will win the election as the quick count result does not represent all the voters in West Java. “Do not come to any conclusions yet,” said Agum. He asked the parties to wait for the final result by KPU on April 22nd and 23rd.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and family -except Agus Harimurti- voted yesterday for the West Java governor. The President voted at election site 03, rt1 rw2, Cikeas, Nagrak village, Gunung Putri sub district, Bogor. The President suggested that contestants and supporters respect the election result.

Sukma | Rana | Erick | Ahmad F| Rinny S | Ninin D