Coalition talks dominated Jakarta yesterday as Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP) held on to its commanding lead and the ruling Golkar party remained a force to be reckoned with.
With about a quarter of the results in, the PDIP was ahead with 38.2 per cent of the vote in the country's first elections since the fall of president Suharto in May 1998.
Golkar, long Suharto's political vehicle, was trailing third with 16.8 per cent and its vice chairman, Mr Marzuki Darusman, was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily as conceding it had lost the top spot.
"We have conducted our own count and we have reached the conclusion that Golkar has lost," Mr Darusman said.
At the centre of the coalition buzz yesterday was PAN, of Muslim reformist leader Mr Amien Rais, which was standing fifth with some 6.8 per cent of the vote.
Mr Rais, who has openly flirted with Golkar, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying he was ready to join the PDIP in government- but only on his terms.
The election commission has said final results should be known next Monday and the official result announced on July 8th.
Meanwhile, in the province of Aceh five civilians died when anti-riot police opened fire after mistaking the sound of a burst tyre for gunfire from separatist rebels, witnesses said. The incident occurred late on Saturday when the tyre of a truck carrying a team of anti-riot police burst at the village of Alue Nere in West Aceh, causing the police to panic and open fire on villagers.
Violence has increased in the past month in the resource rich Muslim province where rebels from the Free Aceh movement have long waged a low-level campaign against Jakarta rule.
The fighting has forced more than 10,000 people to flee from their homes.