1.   Bilateral and multilateral negotiations are ongoing, and industry officials say the final outcome could become clear by Friday.

2.   Each season that passed, the outcome became more obvious.

3.   That outcome has become possible because the field is so crowded with candidates from different ethnic groups that none is expected to win in the first round.

4.   Three quarters remained to be played, but the outcome already was becoming clear.

5.   But as more votes were counted, the outcome became uncertain.

6.   There will probably still be a democratic Indonesia in the end, but other outcomes have become more possible, and ugly things may happen along the way.

7.   As the outcome became clear in the early hours of Monday, Labour supporters took to the streets to celebrate.

8.   With announcements made in Hebrew, the outcome became almost a formality.