SBY: three presidential candidates to contest July election

SBY: three presidential candidates to contest July election
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 04/19/2009 6:33 PM | National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Sunday it was almost certain he would face former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the presidential election once again, but with different vice presidential candidates.

“Almost certainly Ibu Megawati will be competing against with me. Almost certainly there will be another pair of presidential and vice presidential candidates,” he said at his residence in Cikeas, Bogor, responding to a question about the possibility of a coalition with Megawati’s party.

There is widespread speculation the other presidential candidate could be Prabowo Subianto, former commander of the Army’s Special Forces.

According to quick counts and the interim official poll results, Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party has won 20 percent of votes, followed by Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party.

Prabowo’s Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) has collected about 5 percent, but Prabowo has managed to build a coalition with other smaller parties.

The presidential election is slated for July 8.

At the same occasion, Yudhoyono stipulated five criteria for his next vice presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

Speaking to reporters at his residence in Cikeas, Bogor, Yudhoyono said his potential running mate should first of all have strong personal integrity, with strong morality in politics.

Second, he said, the candidate should have the capacity to work as a vice president.

Next, the candidate must be loyal to the president as the head of state, and therefore the next vice president should be free from any vested interests.

“This vice president is different because he is going to be elected by the people. He must have a high capacity to coordinate and synergize the works of Cabinet ministers, in line with the president’s policies,” he said.

He added his next vice presidential candidate should be accepted by the majority of the people, and finally, with himself.

Yudhoyono explained the five criteria were developed after talks with a number of leaders from other political parties.