JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia was on the verge of a new political era as former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono headed for a landslide victory in the country's historic presidential election.
With over half the votes tallied from Monday's ballot, the first time the world's largest Muslim-populated nation has been able to choose its president, retired general Yudhoyono was far ahead of incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Out of 78.1 million votes counted as of Tuesday, Yudhoyono accounted for 60.4 percent compared to Megawati's 39.6, a figure which pollsters do not expect to alter significantly as results trickle in over the coming days.
The vote was seen as a judgement on the taciturn Megawati's failure to revive the flagging economy and heed the needs of her people as well as an endorsement of Yudhoyono's pledges to fight terror and reform government.
It was the third election this year to have been completed without a hitch in the vast and sometimes volatile archipelago of 18,000 islands and was hailed by the United States as a model for nascent democracies.
"What we have seen is that these elections have set a strong example for the region and emerging democracies everywhere," it said. Washington is keen to prove Muslim nations can adopt democracy as it presses for elections in Iraq.
Independent vote monitors, the People's Voter Education Network, declared the election relatively free and fair and said there had only been isolated reports of voter intimidation or vote-buying.
The press also lauded the polls, which follow the successful completion of legislative elections in April and a July first-round presidential vote, as "an end to uncertainty".
The Koran Tempo daily said the next leader, directly elected by the people, "has the opportunity to end the long-dragging uncertainty" especially in the financial sector.
Monday's elections were in marked contrast to Indonesia's chequered history of power transfers since first president Sukarno, Megawati's father, was forced to step down in 1966 amid a purge of alleged communists which killed an estimated 300,000 people.
His successor Suharto was himself forced to resign in 1998 amid widespread civil unrest after three decades of autocratic rule.
The elections also came amid growing concerns over security following the September 9 deadly suicide car bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta -- the third major attack blamed on Islamic extremists in two years in Indonesia.
As Megawati's former security minister until he quit in March to run for president, Yudhoyono led Indonesia's efforts to track down terrorists, raising his stock in the eyes of the international community.
The 55-year-old welcomed the initial results in a speech late Monday but stopped short of declaring victory.
"We are very happy to learn that the quick counts by credible institutions show that I can reap a promising result," he said.
He also called for cooperation from his opponents, a must if he is to maintain influence in the next parliament in which a four-party coalition with Megawati at its helm will control 307 of 550 seats.
After a week which saw markets soar on pre-poll optimism, Jakarta's stock exchange finished on a record high Tuesday while the rupiah also rallied against the dollar.
Yudhoyono has made broad pledges to rejuvenate an economy still bearing the scars of the 1997-98 regional financial crisis and to get tough on graft, which is blamed for driving away foreign investment.
H.S. Dillon, executive director of Partnership which promotes government reform, called the fight against corruption the "number one" challenge for Yudhoyono, and a prerequisite to economic and other badly-needed reforms.