Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – Indonesian military chief Wiranto won a decisive victory early Wednesday in the contest for the Golkar party's presidential nomination but faces a much tougher battle for the top job.

The party founded by former dictator Suharto picked the strongman's former adjutant Wiranto, who has been indicted in East Timor for crimes against humanity.

Now Wiranto will face another former general, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, incumbent leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and other contenders in the country's first direct presidential vote on July 5.

Foreign governments concerned at the prospect of an alleged war criminal as head of state may not need to panic just yet.

Opinion polls before Golkar's convention show Yudhoyono as the people's top choice for president, far ahead of Megawati. He has teamed up with former welfare minister Jusuf Kalla to strengthen his challenge.

"I don't think Wiranto's chances of becoming president are very high – right now it looks as if the Yudhoyono-Kalla combination is difficult to beat," said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group of analysts.

"But we don't know what weeks of intensive television exposure will mean for him or what smear tactics will be used by each side."

At this stage, she said, Megawati looks like a loser but she might benefit if Wiranto takes some of Yudhoyono's support away.

"Viewing the competition that he faces – Yudhoyono-Kalla and Megawati-Haz, – Wiranto still has the weakest position," said Sukardi Rinakit, chairman of the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate research institute.

Megawati is expected to team up with her current vice-president Hamzah Haz for the presidential and vice-presidential poll after Kalla spurned her overtures.

"This is a popular vote. It is the personality that counts, not the party or the institution behind the candidate," Rinakit told AFP,

Wiranto still caries the aroma of human rights violations, he said, while Megawati is seen as having forgotten the "little people" she pledged to protect.

"From the angle of popularity and clean image, SBY (Yudhoyono) and Kalla are both above the fray and they are also seen as professionals with better vision than the others. They are still the best pair," Rinakit said.

Wiranto, 57, was indicted in Dili for failing to curb army-backed militia atrocities against independence supporters in the Indonesian-ruled territory in 1999.

Jones said the allegations would not hurt Wiranto domestically. "If people look at his role in East Timor they also look at his role in 1998 [when Suharto stepped down amid mass riots]. There was an opportunity amid the chaos for the military to come to power but they declined."

Asked whether voters will back party candidates or make their own choice, she said the April 5 parliamentary election had shown "the sophistication of the electorate, with people voting individually for what they feel is appropriate."

While Golkar has claimed victory over Megawati's party, millions of electors deserted established parties and turned to two new ones, including Yudhoyono's Democrats.

Several parties have courted retired generals as candidates but some analysts question whether they will win grassroots support on their military status alone.

M.T. Arifin, an academic and military observer, said military names were mainly circulated among the elite. As individuals, they did not have the strong grassroots supports needed to go it alone.

"I see the reappearance of candidates related to the military... as part of the networking of the military which is not happy with the withdrawal of the armed forces from the political scene," he said.

Asmara Nababan, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Democracy and Human Rights, said generals were returning to politics "because the military wants it."

The prospective army-linked candidates "are in general, the extension of the hands of the military," Nababan said.