Agencies in Jakarta – Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri's chances of becoming Indonesia's next president weakened yesterday as a political rival won a key post and her party's main ally pondered withdrawing support.
Several hundred Megawati supporters demonstrated in central Jakarta, demanding the country's legislature select her as the next leader.
Her party scrambled to find legislators to back her after a vote in the early hours left the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) in the hands of its arch-rival.
Political analysts blamed the hugely popular Ms Megawati for assuming her party's victory in June's election ensured she would become president.
Akbar Tanjung, chairman of President Bacharuddin Habibie's Golkar party, became Speaker in a secret ballot of the 500-member parliament by winning a massive 411 votes.
It was the second such setback for Ms Megawati's camp this week. On Sunday reformist Amien Rais, backed by an alliance of Muslim parties, defeated a Megawati-backed candidate to become Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will elect a president on October 20.
Although many members of Ms Megawati's party voted for Mr Tandjung, he denied any deal had been struck on the presidency.
Ms Megawati's supporters have begun sounding uneasy about the October 20 presidential vote. She has been regarded as the favourite for months.
"We don't feel that we are going to be defeated but we must never rule out that possibility," said one official of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. However, party deputy chairman Dimyati Hartono said the party was "still optimistic" about her chances.
A senior official of the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) warned that it might withdraw its support for Ms Megawati's candidacy in favour of its own founder, Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid. That would virtually kill off Ms Megawati's hopes.
PKB co-chairman Alwi Shihab said the switch depended on seven other Muslim-oriented parties formalising their declared support for the frail, nearly blind Mr Wahid, also known as Gus Dur.
Mr Wahid yesterday accepted nomination for the presidency by Mr Rais' party and another small Muslim party, a spokesman for the two parties said. Even with PKB's 51 votes, Ms Megawati is not assured election.
Analysts said her party, which won June's parliamentary election, had not lobbied properly. They accused her of being imperious and assuming that her party's 153 seats assured her the presidency.
The daughter of founding president Sukarno, she is adored for her staunch opposition to long-term ruler Mr Suharto during his chaotic last years in office. But her party is well short of a majority in the 700-member MPR.
Analysts fear violence in Indonesia if Ms Megawati fails to win the presidency, especially if the victor turns out to be the unpopular President Bacharuddin Habibie.