Presidential elections were held in Indonesia on 8 July 2009. The elections returned a president and vice president for the 2009–2014 term. Incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, elected with a 20% margin in the 2004 election, sought a second term against former President Megawati Sukarnoputri in a rematch of the 2004 election, as well as incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Securing a majority of the votes in a landslide victory in the first round, Yudhoyono was re-elected without the need to proceed to a second round.[1][2] Yudhoyono was officially declared the victor of the election on 23 July 2009, by the General Election Commission (KPU).[3] At the time of his re-election victory, Yudhoyono, with nearly 74 million votes in his favour, held the record for the highest number of votes for a single person in any democratic election in history, surpassing Barack Obama's total of 69.5 million votes in the 2008 United States presidential election.[4] His record was surpassed by his respective successors Joko Widodo who won more than 85 million votes in 2019 and Prabowo Subianto who won more than 96 million votes in 2024.
On 17 February, the Constitutional Court ruled that independent candidates would not be allowed to run in the election.[11]
Coalition talks
Following legislative elections held on 9 April, coalitions of political parties began to emerge in order to nominate candidates for President and Vice President. Under the 2008 Presidential Election Law, the candidates must be nominated by a party or coalition that won at least 25% of the popular vote or 112 (20%) of 560 seats of the DPR.[12] Indonesia's Constitutional Court also ruled that independent candidates would not be allowed to run.[13] Candidates had to officially register with the KPU by midnight of 16 May in order to appear on the ballots.[14]
It initially appeared that Golkar, the party of incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla, would enter into a coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri to challenge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. However, talks were broken off on 13 April 2009, with Golkar reportedly more interested in continuing the coalition with Yudhoyono rather than risk being cut off from power completely. Yudhoyono was also in talks with Islamist parties in a bid to form a coalition controlling more than half the seats in parliament.[15][16][17]
The PDI-P selected former president Megawati as its presidential candidate on 7 May but did not immediately announce a running mate.[21] The possibility of Gerindra leader Prabowo Subianto becoming Megawati's running mate had been favoured by PDI-P leadership, but the two parties had yet to come to an agreement two days before the 16 May candidate registration deadline.[22][23] After plans to announce the pair's candidacy were postponed to allow for continuing negotiations, both parties eventually declared on 15 May the nomination of Megawati and Prabowo as candidates for president and vice president.[24]
In the scenario that either Kalla or Megawati would have lost his or her bid for the presidency in the first election round, one candidate would have supported the other in the second round, as agreed upon by the grand coalition formed to oppose incumbent President Yudhoyono.[25]
On 12 May 2009, Yudhoyono chose Boediono, the governor of Bank Indonesia (Indonesia's central bank), as his running mate.[26] Four parties which had planned to form a coalition with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party (PAN, PPP, the National Awakening Party (PKB), and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)) had expected that the vice presidential nominee would come from one of their parties. Although they threatened to form their own coalition with Gerindra and present their own candidate, PKB became the first party in the coalition to support Yudhoyono's decision.[27][28] The remaining three parties eventually agreed to support the Yudhoyono–Boediono ticket and attended the nomination ceremony in Bandung on 15 May.[29]
Initially, the pair of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono was referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as SBY Berbudi.[33] 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.[35]
The pair of Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto is referred to colloquially by the Indonesian media as JK–Win.[33]
Schedule
Voters in a polling station in North Jakarta receiving their ballot to vote in the election.
Candidates had to register from 10–16 May, with medical checks, which they all passed,[36] from 11–15 May.[37] The candidates were officially announced on 28 May[38] and drew their ballot numbers at the KPU building on 31 May.[39] Megawati–Prabowo drew number 1, SBY–Boediono number 2 and Kalla–Wiranto number 3.[39]
The presidential election campaign began on 2 June and ran until 4 July, with mass rallies allowed from 12 June onwards. Those participating in the campaign were not allowed to question the basis of the Indonesian state, insult the race or religion of candidates, use threats or violence or give financial or material incentives to voters.[40] There were a series of debates between 18 June and 2 July that were carried live on Indonesian television, three between the presidential candidates and two between the vice-presidential candidates. The topics for these two-hour debates were agreed in advance, and by common consent, did not explicitly include human rights issues.[41]
After a two-day "silent period", voting took place on 8 July. National election results are due to be announced between 27 and 29 July. Following a period to allow for legal challenges, the final results will be announced between 1 and 12 August. If the election goes to a second round, the second campaign period will run from 15 July – 7 September, with the vote on 8 September. The final result is due to be announced on 8 October, with the president and vice-president being sworn before the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in 20 October.[42]
^Mariam, Yuki; Saraswati, Muninggar Sri (29 May 2009). "Campaigns Ignore KPU Rule". Jakarta Globe. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
^Kalsum, Umi; Kusumadewi, Anggi; Ahniar, Nur Farida; Darmawan, Agus Dwi; Galih, Bayu (20 October 2009). "Yudhoyono Resmi Presiden RI 2009-2014". Viva. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
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