Indonesia Vote Backs Regime; Discontent Seen
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The voters of Indonesia gave an overwhelming mandate to President Suharto’s party, but signs of discontent emerged Wednesday across the sprawling tropical archipelago.
Analysts said dissatisfaction with the ruling Golkar party was reflected in gains of the two other parties--the Muslim-based United Development Party and the populist Indonesian Democratic Party.
With most of the votes from Tuesday’s general election counted, Golkar led its rivals with 67.3% compared to 17.5% for the Development Party and 15.2% for the Democratic Party.
The results show a six-point drop for Golkar from its showing in the last election in 1987.
One Asian diplomat said that a rise in the Democratic Party’s vote share indicated the disillusionment of the middle class and especially young people with the government’s failure to tackle the widening gap between rich and poor.
In addition, the business activities of Suharto’s children were put under the spotlight just before the election by a World Bank report that criticized trade monopolies run by two of his sons.
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