- Title: INDONESIA: President picks Susilo Bambang Boediono as VP candidate
- Date: 16th May 2009
- Summary: YUDHOYONO AND BOEDIONO ON SCREEN END OF DECLARATION
- Embargoed: 31st May 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- City:
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA52KOGWOUH34MAA0QGLCP6I9EE
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday (May 15) confirmed central bank governor Boediono as his vice presidential running mate in polls in July, a choice that has been broadly welcomed by markets.
Yudhoyono, who is heavily tipped in opinion polls to be re-elected, said that his Democrat party will team up with smaller Islamic parties, -- Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN), People's Awakening Party (PKB), and United Development Party (PPP) -- to form a coalition that ruled more than half of the total seats in the parliament.
The announcement was made by Yudhoyono at a prestigious university auditorium in Bandung , West Java about 160 km( 99 miles) southeast of capital Jakarta.
The outcome of the presidential election on July 8 would affect the pace of reforms, which are critical for attracting foreign investment, creating jobs and driving economic growth.
Boediono, 66, a respected technocrat who has held a number of high-profile jobs in the cabinet and central bank during Indonesia's crisis years of the last 1990s and subsequent recovery.
His candidacy, which has been widely speculated in recent days, has been seen as market-friendly and welcomed by analysts because of his clean image.
In the last election, Yudhoyono picked businessman and Golkar Party politician Jusuf Kalla as his deputy. However, the relations went sour when Kalla became more active and about, and in the end nominated himself to join the presidential race.
In last month's parliamentary elections, the Democrats won a fifth of the votes, giving the party the biggest share of the seats in parliament, although Yudhoyono has wooed other parties to ensure the government would have support in parliament.
Private polls showed the Yudhoyono-Boediono pair is tipped to win race with 70 percent of votes. Yudhoyono had also fixed earlier grudges from Islamist party PKS that criticised the lack of Islam representative in the pair.
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