JAKARTA, Indonesia — In their second parliamentary election since casting off Suharto’s dictatorship six years ago, Indonesians appeared ready yesterday to hand his party the most seats — a result that would dent President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s re-election bid.
Voting across the vast archipelago of 17,000 islands was marred by delays, shortages of election materials, registration cards delivered to children and dead people, and confusing ballots featuring hundreds of names and dozens of party logos.
Yet it was a monumental accomplishment in its scope and in the logistics needed to pull it off. Nearly 600,000 polling stations manned by 5 million workers spanned three time zones and 3,000 miles from Sumatra in the west to Papua in the east. Some polling stations were a five-day walk from the nearest road.
Suharto’s Golkar Party and Mrs. Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle were poised to dominate the 550-seat House of Representatives. Turnout was expected to be high.
The fact that there was voting at all was a triumph, and many Indonesians saw the polling as a chance to make their voices heard. The nation has been beset by several wars of secession, an often-brutal military and a lethal onslaught by al Qaeda-linked terrorists.
“We need lawmakers who will turn away from corruption,” said 33-year-old Jakarta resident Fauzi al Idrus, explaining his vote for the Muslim-based Party of Justice and Prosperity.
“It’s not because it’s a Muslim party. It’s because they’re good, honest people.”
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