Indonesia Presidential Election: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Lead

On Wednesday, July 8, the world's third-largest democracy voted in the second direct presidential election in the history of Indonesia.

Exit polls have placed incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or "SBY", in the lead with a predicted 59 percent of votes, followed by former and first female president Megawati Sukarnoputri (28 percent)--whose father was Sukarno, the first post-colonial president of Indonesia-- and Vice President Jusuf Kalla (13 percent).

Yudhoyono has been praised for various achievements from his past term as president, including: settling disturbance in the province of Aceh; steering Indonesia through the economic crisis while maintaining an annual economic growth rate of 4 percent; cracking down on Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist network; and cutting domestic oil prices three times after having raised them once in response to the global financial crash. Yudhoyono is also favored by Indonesia's population for introducing direct cash transfers to the 19.4 million poorest families in the country.

On the other hand, critics have not overlooked Yudhoyono's failures. Indonesia is still subject to mass corruption, poor infrastructure, issues in legal and judiciary rule, and severe poverty and unemployment, with rates of 14.2 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. Yudhoyono also promised in 2008 to attract more foreign investments in Indonesia and the country's infrastructure, but has only implemented one quarter of proposed initiatives to that effect. Finally, though Indonesia may seem to have fared better than others, in no way has the country escaped the world recession unscathed.

However, Indonesian media has been reluctant to hold Yudhoyono to account, reports The Economist. The incumbent candidate has been further helped by his opponents' uninspired campaigns and their running mates' ties to the Suharto era, when Indonesia was ruled by the dictator for thirty years before he was removed in 1998.

To win the presidency, Yudhoyono needs 50 percent of votes nationally, and over 20 percent of votes in half of the country's 33 provinces. The National Election Commission in Indonesia will release results on July 27, and if necessary a second election will be held in September 2009.