Presidential elections will be held in Indonesia on 8 July 2009. A run-off election will be held on 8 September if needed. The elections will return a president and vice president for 2009–2014 period.


Candidates had to register from 10-16 May, with medical checks, which they all passed, from 11-15 May. The candidates were officially announced on 28 May and drew their ballot numbers at the General Election Commission building on 31 May.


The presidential election campaign began on 2 June and will run until 4 July. After a two-day "silent period", voting will take place on 8 July. National election results are due to be announced between 27 and 29 June. 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 in by the head of the Supreme Court on 20 October.


This will be the second election in which Indonesians elect their President and Vice President directly.



About Candidat

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.



Polls through early January 2009 saw Yudhoyono leading a large field of potential presidential candidates.