Indonesian legislators today elected a Muslim politician, who has said women are not fit to lead the world's largest Muslim nation, as an unlikely deputy for their first female president.
The choice of United Development Party chief Mr Hamzah Haz underlines the potential instability in the fragile alliance that ousted Mr Abdurrahman Wahid and replaced him with the daughter of founding President Sukarno on Monday.
But Mr Haz also provides crucial religious support that Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri needs to survive in power - and only time will tell if he is a friend or foe, analysts said.
Sources said their relationship is cool and formal.
Mr Haz beat parliamentary speaker Mr Akbar Tandjung by winning 340 votes among the 611 members of the top assembly who voted.
Just hours after sacking the country's first democratically elected leader, the almost one dozen parties involved began squabbling over the spoils, an early warning President Megawati's coalition could become as fractious as Mr Wahid's.
As the supreme People's Consultative Assembly was meeting, Mr Wahid prepared to leave the presidential palace where he has remained since being forced from power. He will leave for the United States today for medical checks.
Mr Haz's election and Mr Wahid's departure may seal Indonesia's first peaceful transition of power, which would provide a welcome boost to the battered economy.