Indonesian main opposition party leads elections in quick count

The Democratic Party of Struggle ( PDI-P), Indonesia's largest opposition party led by former president Megawati, took an early lead in the parliamentary election on Wednesday, unofficial results showed.

Some 180 million eligible voters across the vast archipelago cast ballots to choose their national and regional parliamentary representatives.

Quick count results released by Indikator, a tally registered at the country's election committee, showed PID-P was ahead with 19.23 percent of the 60 percent of its sample votes counted, significantly lower than the prediction.

Golkar, once the parliamentary vehicle of former dictator Soeharto, followed PDI-P with about 14.37 percent. While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's corruption-hit Democrat Party, which held the most seats in the previous parliament, was in the fourth position with 9.70 percent.

Another tally from pollster Cyrus gave the PDI-P around 19 percent with 80 percent of its sample votes counted.

Bambang Suryono, the president of the academic research organization of Nanyang ASEAN Foundation, said before the election that PID-P would be the biggest winner in the election with about 28 percent to 30 percent of the popular votes.

PID-P's lead in parliamentary election is expected to help the hugely popular Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo win July's presidential election after Megawati appointed him to run for the country's top post.

President Susilo, who has been in power for 10 years, is barred by the constitution from running for a third term.