Foreign Correspondence

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Indonesian legislative election, 2009 ..

Analysis


The national results showing parties achieving the largest vote share per province.
Source: General Elections Commission

Election results saw a drop in votes for Islamic parties compared to 2004, when they collected a total of 38 percent of votes. Although 87 percent of Indonesia's population are followers of Islam, the four Islamic parties in this election (the United Development Party, the National Mandate Party, the Prosperous Justice Party, and the National Awakening Party) only collected 24 percent of votes.[40] The Prosperous Justice Party, perhaps the most conservative Islamist party,[citation needed] gained 12 seats but fell short of its goal of garnering 15-percent of total votes cast.

In addition to growing concerns for the economy, observers believed that many voters shied away from Islamism after several local elections resulted in victories for Islamic parties. Once elected, these officials began experimenting with sharia, or Islamic law, prompting resistance among the local population. Most notably, legislators had proposed an anti-pornography bill in 2006 to gain the favor of religious groups. However, the bill's vagueness meant that practicing yoga could be construed as a pornographic action. Additionally, several corruption charges were brought against officials representing Islamic parties, which had previously been considered clean compared to other political parties.

The trend of voting for secular parties was not limited to Islam-based parties. The Christianity-based Prosperous Peace Party received only 1.48 percent of votes, and Catholicism-based Indonesian Democratic Party of Devotion received 0.31 percent.

Aftermath

The Democratic Party was the only party to have fulfilled the requirements needed to nominate its own candidates for president and vice president in the July election. It won 150 seats in the People's Representative Council, well over the 112 needed to nominate a candidate. No party met the criterion of achieving 25 percent of the popular vote. By 16 May, three coalitions submitted candidates for the presidential election. The coalition led by the Democratic Party submitted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as running mates. Golkar and the People's Conscience Party submitted Vice President Jusuf Kalla and retired General Wiranto as running mates. Finally, the coalition led by the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle and the Great Indonesia Movement Party submitted former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and retired General Prabowo Subianto as running mates. .. more .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_legislative_election,_2009

Indonesian presidential election, 2009

Presidential elections were held in Indonesia on 8 July 2009. The elections returned a president and vice president for the 2009–2014 period. A run-off election was scheduled to be held on 8 September if needed, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won more than 60% of the vote in the first round, which enabled him to secure reelection without a run-off. Yudhoyono was officially declared the victor of the election on 23 July 2009, by the General Election Commission .. [...]

Candidates

Nominees for president and vice president registered their candidacy at the central General Election Commission office in Jakarta on 16 May. Candidates underwent physical and psychological evaluations at Gatot Subroto Army Hospital following registration. Personality tests were also conducted using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Megawati Sukarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto

The pair of Megawati Sukarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto is referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as Mega–Pro. These two candidates belong to opposing ideological backgrounds. Prabowo's father, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, was a political enemy of Megawati's father, former President Sukarno.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono

Initially, the pair of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono was referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as SBY Berbudi. Three days after the slogan was announced, the campaign team had changed its name to SBY–Boediono due to concerns that the term berbudi was not as well known outside Java.

Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto

The pair of Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto is referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as JK–Win. .. 10 links there alone .. more ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_presidential_election,_2009