Word: yudhoyono
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...July 4, ending three weeks of campaigning by the three candidates hoping to lead the country for the next five years. With just a few days left before an expected 170 million people go to the polls on July 8, most surveys indicate that incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - commonly known here as "S.B.Y." - will take more than 60% of the votes, with his two challengers, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and current Vice President Jusuf Kalla, trailing far behind...
...With Yudhoyono, a former three-star general and Indonesia's first directly elected President, in front with a commanding lead, the opposition is now warning that the election - the country's second free poll since the fall of strongman General Suharto in 1998 - will be fraught with irregularities. "I have raised the issue of the voter rolls since day one," candidate Megawati, who currently stands at a distant second with a projected 20% of the vote, recently told foreign journalists. "There is a big chance that there could be a lot of cheating during the elections." (See pictures...
...This election is not like in the U.S., when the mantra was for change," explains Baswedan. "Before you ask for change, you have to be dissatisfied, but if you are happy, you don't want to change." That, he says, is why the campaign of the Democratic Party of Yudhoyono (who is known here as SBY) has "Let's Continue" as its slogan, hoping that more people are content with their lot than they were five years ago. (Read U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world...
...With the presidential candidates of Yudhoyono, Kalla and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri preparing for their second round this week, many voters are left wondering if the extensively covered debates are really going to change any minds. With the exception of their economic policies, positions on issues ranging from education and health care to corruption and job creation have been presented in generalities - a flaw that some are blaming on the structure of the events themselves. "The debates won't change any opinions unless the format is changed and more details can be revealed," says Effendi Ghazali, professor of political communications...
...April's legislative elections, SBY saw a decisive victory, winning 20.8% of the vote. Passing the 20% threshold gave Yudhoyono the freedom to choose his vice-presidential candidate without the consideration of formal coalition partners, allowing him to run with Boediono, a former central-bank governor and economics professor with minimal political baggage. With Kalla's Golkar party trailing with 14.4% and Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle with 14%, the two candidates have had to team up with former generals - with dubious human-rights records...