Aher, Rieke in tight race

Arya Dipa, The Jakarta Post, Bandung | Archipelago | Sun, February 24 2013, 4:13 PM

Two West Java governor hopefuls, Ahmad “Aher” Heryawan and Rieke Diah Pitaloka, are hopeful for the results of the West Java gubernatorial election for the period 2013-2018 on Sunday.

According to a quick count conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), as of 2:14 p.m., Ahmad who is supported by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) was slightly ahead of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate. He has 32.01 percent of votes to Rieke’s 27.5 percent, only a half an hour before Rieke had the lead over the incumbent governor candidate.

“Only 40 percent of the ballots have been counted,” said the LSI’s director for research, Hendro Prasetyo, at Homann Hotel in Bandung.

Currently, Dede Yusuf is third with 23.88 percent of votes, followed by Irianto M.S.Syafiuddin with 14.56 percent and then Dikdik Mulyana Arief Mansyur with 1.81 percent. (ebf)