The Golkar party of former dictator Suharto maintained its lead in Indonesia's general election but a rival demanded party leader Akbar Tanjung resign ahead of a convention to choose the party's presidential candidate.
With 90 million votes counted after the April 5 poll, Golkar had 21.04 percent of the votes compared to 19.59 percent for President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Retired general Wiranto, seen by many as Tanjung's strongest rival among Golkar's six presidential hopefuls, said Tanjung should "temporarily resign" to give everyone "equal opportunity" at the party's national convention Tuesday.
Tanjung, one of Indonesia's wiliest and most experienced politicians, will face five other Golkar candidates at the convention to pick the party's presidential candidate.
"Why Akbar should be non-active [prior to the convention]? Because he is also a contestant in the convention. All contestants must have the same opportunity to convey their plans and thoughts to the public," Wiranto was quoted as saying by the Media Indonesia daily.
Golkar senior executive Marwah Daud backed Wiranto's call, saying such a move was necessary to ensure the convention was fair.
But Golkar deputy leader Mahadi Sinambela said Tanjung had won the backing of the party's central executive board due to his succees in increasing the party's votes. This does not guarantee Tanjung a win but the endorsement could influence the vote of undecided members.
Tanjung has already claimed victory in the election, saying most of the votes still to be tallied will come from Golkar's powerbase in outlying regions.
Megawati will have to battle to keep her job in the presidential election on July 5 after PDI-P's poor showing compared to 1999, when it took 34 percent of the votes.
Her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose new Democrat party performed strongly in the election, is by far the presidential front-runner, according to opinion surveys.
Tanjung was convicted of graft involving food aid for the poor but was cleared in February on appeal to the supreme court. Opinion surveys have shown him ranked only fourth or so among people's presidential preferences. But some analysts still expect him to secure Golkar's nomination given that he has apparently delivered victory in the parliamentary poll.
Golkar in fact is still below the 22 percent it won in 1999, when its ties to Suharto were an electoral handicap. Suharto stepped down in May 1998 after 32 years of authoritarian rule.
Candidates must be nominated by a party but do not have to belong to that party, opening the door for coalition-building efforts before the July poll.
In the legislative election all the big established parties performed worse than in 1999. Millions of voters switched to new groupings in what analysts see as a clear desire for change.
The third-placed National Awakening Party of former president Abdurrahman Wahid was on 12 percent Saturday compared to 13 percent in 1999. Vice President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party, the main Muslim grouping, had 8.31 percent (11 percent in the last election).
The Democrat party, which took millions of votes away from PDI-P, was in fifth place with 7.52 percent. The conservative Islamic Prosperous Justice Party, another new grouping, placed sixth on 7.15 percent.