Jakartass, a Briton living in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, spent this morning acting as an international observer in Indonesia's first direct presidential election - between the incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri and her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Once back at home, he sat down at his computer, penning his thoughts.
Having reported to "'er indoors" a tally of 145 "Mega votes" and 767 for "SBY", he concedes that the results might be influenced by "spoiled papers and my bad arithmetic".
Jakartass doesn't have the vote in Indonesia, but wouldn't use it in any case. The president's coalition, he complains, has reportedly failed to follow new political rules, but "SBY is part of the entrenched political elite, albeit with a better singing voice".
Jakartass's approach would not go down well with the Jakarta Post – which today urged the country's 150 million electorate to "vote and be counted" with these words of advice: "If you dislike both candidates, you can still vote against the candidate you like the least, or dislike the most. You do not need to feel responsibility for the eventual winner: you did not vote for her or him, but rather you voted against the other candidate."
Jakartass remains unconvinced: "If Megawati was as detestable as Bush, then I would certainly vote for SBY in order to keep her out. Unfortunately, he seems to be as characterless as Kerry."
Despite Jakartass's reservations, it looks as though SBY is well on his way to victory. The blogger is apparently happy enough listening to XTC and sipping lemonade, but those who would rather follow an up-to-date computerised vote count can find one here.
Adam Jay
