A tearful President Megawati Sukarnoputri has told Indonesians to accept the result of the country's landmark leadership ballot but has not explicitly conceded defeat to her former security chief.
Ms Megawati's team has threatened to challenge the vote count from some areas, putting winner former general Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a bind and risking what could have been an orderly end to Indonesia's first direct presidential election.
The election commission yesterday declared Mr Yudhoyono the winner of the September 20th presidential run-off by 25 million votes.
"Whoever is chosen in a democratic election has to be accepted, because that is a victory for all of us," Ms Megawati, choking back tears, said in a speech today at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the military's founding.
Mr Yudhoyono was also present at the ceremony, one of Ms Megawati's last official engagements. The two did not speak to each other before it began.
Mr Yudhoyono has refrained from making a victory speech as he tries to reach out to Ms Megawati and her party, the second-biggest in parliament. He quit her cabinet as security chief in March after a bitter row over his presidential ambitions.
The impasse could drag on Indonesia's financial markets, which have rallied on his crushing win. Jakarta stocks ended 2.5 percent higher at a record close yesterday, and were off around half a per cent in mid-morning trade.
Ms Megawati has until Thursday to file a complaint over the count at the Constitutional Court.
The challenges facing Mr Yudhoyono are enormous. Economic growth is sluggish, graft endemic, foreign investment poor and Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda on the loose. But Indonesians have high hopes in his popular mandate.