It appears that no one can stop presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from topping the tally although a runoff is most likely to be held.

As of Thursday morning, the retired army general had taken leadin 19 out of 32 provinces, far ahead of incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had won in only seven provinces.

With around a half of votes having been counted, Yudhoyono grabbed 33.84 percent, trailed by Megawati with 26.2 percent and former military chief Wiranto with 22.11 percent.

A runoff between the two front-runners will be held if no candidate wins an outright majority.

No body can stop Yudhoyono now, the country's most influential newspaper Kompas said in its Thursday's headline.

Even in East Java province, the main stronghold of the largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla got most of the votes.

With some 40 million followers, NU has become a battle zone forMegawati and Wiranto to garner support. Megawati teamed up with NUChairman Hasyim Muzadi while Wiranto picked NU cleric Solahuddin Wahid.

The NU-affiliated National Awakening Party (PKB), which won thelegislative election in East Java province, has officially vowed support for Wiranto-Wahid.

"We have predicted Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla will win. But we neverexpected they could win in East Java," PKB Deputy Chairman Moh Mahfud MD said.

English daily The Jakarta Post said there is no doubt of Yudhoyono's place in the final round, quoting quick-count results from several institutes indicating that Yudhoyono is well ahead with about 33.2 percent to 36.2 percent of the vote.

While Megawati and Wiranto are grappling for the remaining place for the Sept. 20 runoff, two other candidates, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and incumbent Vice President Hamzah Haz, have conceded defeat.

The research team for Rais has found that their candidate will end fourth while Hamzah's team acknowledged that at best Hamzah would win 5 percent of the total vote.

Source: Xinhua