Polls - Novice will unseat incumbent president

Monday, September 20, 2004

JAKARTA, Indoesia -- Indonesian voters hungry for change are expected today to do something that was unthinkable during the country's three decades of authoritarian rule -- toss out an incumbent president and vote in a political newcomer who has promised to crack down on corruption and revive the battered economy. Polls show Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with more than a 25 percentage point lead over President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Most analysts expect the former general will win the election in a landslide. Police said they have deployed nearly 140,000 officers across the vast archipelago to guard polling stations. There were fears of a terrorist attack after an explosion outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on Sept. 9 that killed nine. The blast has been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

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