MEGAWATI Soekarnoputri sat with her back to a 2 x 2.5 meter screen which was displaying the quick count of the Jakarta gubernatorial election at the Charta Politika polling institution. She never even glanced at the screen which had been set up in the yard of her home in Kebagusan, south Jakarta.

Speaking to those around her, she lamented the deluge of issues about race and religion cast against running mates Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) and D