Indonesia’s election commission was to announce the results of last month’s parliamentary elections late today, an official said.

“The results will be announced at 7.30pm”, commission chairperson Husni Kamil Manik said.

Under Indonesian electoral law, official results must be announced within one month after the vote, or commissioners can face up to five years in prison and fines of up to 60 million rupiah (US$5,200).

As of today, the commission still had to verify votes from seven provinces.

“We are optimistic we will be able to finish it today,” Manik said.

Unofficial quick counts from the April 9 elections projected the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) winning the most votes, at 19 percent.

Golkar, the ruling party during the reign of former dictator Suharto, was second with about 15 percent, and the Gerindra Party of former general and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto came third with 12 percent.

- dpa