SBY voice in Sulawesi S. reduced

Presidential hopeful Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) campaign team has claimed it has lost around 10 percent of votes in South Sulawesi after a controversial statement was made by Andi Alifian Malarangeng.
Diza Rasyid Ali, head of the provincial SBY camp said Wednesday the team had expected to secure as much as 40 percent of votes in the province, but quick counts show the frontrunners received closer to 30 percent.

“Pak Alifian's [Andi Mallarangeng] statement has been misused by certain people and decreased the number of votes SBY should get,” Diza told the Jakarta Post.

Data from the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) shows that SBY received 27.27 percent of the vote, down from the 40 percent previous surveys expected them to get. Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto got 66.93 percent, while Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto received only 5.79 percent.

Andi Mallarangeng, a member of the SBY campaign team, said the province’s residents were not ready to lead the country; a statement many feel underestimates the capability of local residents.