Ex-army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has widened his lead in the the race for Indonesia?s presidency, according to a poll showing he has more than double the support of incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri.

A historic September 20 vote will determine democratically for the first time who leads the world?s fourth most populous nation, struggling to recover from the economic crisis of the late 1990s and deal with violence from separatists and Muslim extremists. The Washington-based pollster International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) said on Thursday 62.4 percent of those surveyed indicated they would vote for Yudhoyono, while 28.3 percent would vote for Megawati in the run-off election.

Around 10 percent of the 1 250 people surveyed nationwide between August 7 and 14 held their preference secret or were undecided. In the first round of the election on July 5, Yudhoyono won 33.6 percent of the vote in a race between five candidates.

That put him ahead of second placed Megawati, who won 26.6 percent, but did not deliver the absolute majority needed to avoid a run-off against the incumbent.

The survey appears to go against the opinion of many political analysts who believe Megawati is closing the gap on her former chief security minister, thanks to support from other parties and a series of high-profile presidential appearances.

IFES senior adviser Hank Valentino said he also believed the final result on Sept. 20 would would be closer than the latest survey indicated.

?This is the situation in mid-August. With so much time between that and the election, I think we are still unable to say who will win. My personal opinion is it will be a close race,? Valentino told Reuters ahead of the formal poll release scheduled later in the day.

<B>Grand coalition </B>

The survey underscores the opinion of some pundits that political parties in Indonesia are unable to determine their supporters? preferences in the presidential race.

Megawati, fighting to win a fresh term, formally unveiled last week a grand coalition in a bid to ensure she stays in power for the next five years.

The four-party coalition links the three biggest parties in the next parliament and a minor party, which together will account for 307 seats in the 550-member house when it takes office in October.

The coalition includes Golkar, which won the most seats in April?s parliamentary election, and has been an uneasy partner in the governing coalition led by Megawati?s secular-nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) since she took power in 2001.

Golkar, the political vehicle of President Suharto during his 32-year rule that ended in 1998, gave its support to Megawati after its candidate was knocked out in the first round vote.

Yudhoyono has defended his reluctance to form coalitions with other parties at the price of promising them numerous cabinet seats, saying he will rely on the will of the people and their desire to end corruption and cronyism.

Analysts say that strategy could work in winning the election, but make it hard to govern effectively.

Yudhoyono?s young Democrat Party, also secular nationalist, is only the fourth biggest in parliament with 56 seats. Two parties which have vowed to back him have only 12 seats combined.

<B>Dan Eaton</B>