Megawati Asks Rulers to Step Aside

In an emotional address, presidential front-runner Megawati Sukarnoputri asked Indonesia’s government to step aside, announcing that her party had been chosen in last month’s elections to purge corruption from the crisis-riven nation. Although the results of the ballot have not been released, unofficial tallies endorsed by most major parties showed that Megawati’s party won with 34% of the vote. The ruling Golkar Party placed second with 22%. Though authorities are looking into complaints of vote tampering made by some smaller parties, the results are unlikely to change. An electoral college is due to meet in November to elect the new head of state.