The margin of his victory this time was said to have been so huge as to obviate a run-off, unlike in 2004 when he secured his first mandate for the post. In such a setting, Yudhoyono’s challengers disputed the results of the latest “quick counts”. The electoral authority’s official result was still unavailable by July 20.
Despite this, the general view among political pundits and other politically savvy sections was that Indonesia’s post-Suharto democracy had come of age on July 8. It was this sense of a political “awakening” that the July 17 terrorist attacks, which claimed nine lives and injured 50 persons, served to undermine, at least for a while. So much so, questions were raised even in official circles about the possibility of links between these attacks and the country’s newly evolving political process. In televised comments, Yudhoyono said those behind the attack should be punished, regardless of their political links, if any.
The main focus of the investigations was on the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a suspected South-East Asian affiliate of Al Qaeda. Gaining currency as a key line of probe was the possibility that a “breakaway JI leader”, Noordin Mohammed Top of Malaysia, could have masterminded the attack. Indonesian police officials reported that the explosives used on that day were similar to those that the faction had depended on for some earlier strikes.
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3:51 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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