SBY's 'integrity' behind Democratic Party's win: Juwono

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/10/2009 8:37 AM

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, who is not affiliated to any political party, attributes the Democratic Party's success in the legislative elections to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's "character and integrity."

"The success of the Democratic Party in gaining more than 20 percent of the votes in the legislative elections is a measure of the voters' trust in character and integrity of SBY's personality," Juwono said Friday.

Quick counts by a number of research institutes, including the Indonesian Survey Institute, the Indonesian Survey Circles, LP3ES and the National Survey Institute show that Yudhoyono's Democratic Party gained about 20 percent of the total votes, almost three times of total votes it got in 2004.

Megawati Soekarnoputri's Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) came second with about 15 percent of the votes and Jusuf Kalla's Golkar Party followed closely at the third place with about 14 percent.

Yudhoyono welcomed the quick counts, saying that survey institutes would not risk their integrity by issuing quick counts.

He said that he would start talking to other political parties to build possible coalitions at the House of Representatives for the July 8 presidential elections.

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