Fitri, Lombok – Who cares about sex tapes? Not Central Lombok residents, apparently. Suhaili Fadhil Thohir, who starred in a five-minute sex video uploaded on YouTube in May, is well on his way to winning the second round of regional district head elections.

With Lalu Normal Suzana as his running mate, Suhaili is facing the tandem of Lalu Gede Muhammad Ali Wira Sakti and Lalu Elyas Munir Jaelani.

According to a quick count by the local Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), Suhaili had secured 59.38 percent of the votes, while Lalu Gede was far behind at 40.7 percent.

The district elections were generally peaceful on Thursday, but were marred with allegations of cheating. Serijaya, the Panwaslu chief in Central Lombok, said his team had received four reports, with one indicating money politics had been used by Suhaili's camp, which allegedly gave Rp 10,000 each to voters.

Suhaili's team, on the other hand, reported that Ali Wira Sakti's team distributed cigarettes and roosters to voters.

Meanwhile, Suhaili's sex tape case is still being investigated by the Central Lombok Police to determine if the tape's distribution is a criminal violation.

In another scandal tied to sex videos, Peterpan frontman Nazril "Ariel" Irham remains behind bars while awaiting trial for allegedly violating the Anti-Pornography Law. The sex videos, purportedly Ariel with celebrities Luna Maya and Cut Tari, were circulated online in June, resulting in a national scandal.