The months ahead of the November legislative session that will choose the new leader will be filled with manoeuvring among the political elite, analysts said. ``The results are now in the bag, although I am pessimistic that the reported violations will be followed up,'' said political scientist Muhammad Hikam.

``Now everyone's attention is back on the presidency,'' said Hikam of the state Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

Kusnanto Anggoro, who is with the private think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said that unless a ``really serious violation'' was uncovered, the vote count completed late on Thursday would be made official next week.

The Indonesian Election Committee was able to finish the count after all the 48 contesting political parties agreed to let it proceed and address the multitude of reported violations afterwards. Thefinal count confirmed the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP) led by 52-year-old Megawati Sukarnoputri, the popular nationalist daughter of founding President Sukarno, as the winner with 33.7 per cent of the more than 105 million valid votes tallied. Golkar -- which routinely topped the polls in the 32-year reign of former president Suharto and which is backing his successor, B J Habibie, to continue as President -- trailed behind with 22.4 per cent of the votes.

But under the Indonesian political system, winning the elections, the first to be held since Suharto's fall in May last year, does not mean winning the presidency. ``There are only two players in the race now -- Megawati versus Habibie,'' Hikam said. He said that although Megawati's PDIP had the largest share of the vote, the margin was not big enough to automatically give her the presidency.

The PDIP will have 154 seats, both in Parliament and in the 700-seat People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which is slated to elect the President inNovember. Habibie's Golkar won 120 seats in Parliament but it has strong support from Muslim parties and additional support from some of the 200 appointees to the MPR from the regions and non-political organisations. ``On paper, Habibie still has a large chance of winning the presidency,'' Anggoro said.

``A President is elected by the MPR. A winning party (in the elections) cannot claim the presidency,'' noted Mahadi Sinambela, a Golkar representative on the national Election Commission. Sinambela said the PDIP would be hard-pressed to make Megawati President ``unless other parties enter into a coalition with it''.

``I don't agree with statements by some people that Megawati must be elected President because her party won the election,'' he added.

With the Opposition reform camp divided and no coalition between the main reformist parties with the PDIP in sight, Hikam said that a pivotal role would be played by the military. The military holds 38 non-elected seats in Parliament as its members do not votein elections. ``All eyes are now scrutinizing the horizon to detect any signs of who the military votes will go to,'' Hikam said. Whatever the choice, Indonesia was facing a dilemma, he added.

If Megawati loses (the presidency), dissatisfaction will foment within her supporters at the grassroot level.

``But it may still be manageable if someone other than Habibie takes the presidency. Habibie will face a hard time asserting his legitimacy if he wins,'' Hikam said. ``I hope (the armed forces) understand this and push for the reformist camp to work together,'' he said.

Anggoro said Megawati should be allowed to become President but under tighter control from the public and the legislature. Her term could always be cut short midway if she failed to live up to expectations, he said.``For the sake of cooling down the masses and to uphold people's sovereignty, why don't we just stick to the demand of the people?'' Anggoro said. The tally won by the PDIP was a ``clear signal'' of the people's wishes, headded.