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JAKARTA - INDONESIA kicked off a mammoth nine-month legislative election campaign with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling coalition under pressure over soaring food and fuel prices.
Indonesia's election committee (KPU) opened the campaign on Saturday with restrictions on public rallies and a warning to the 34 eligible parties to avoid the rowdy street protests and cash payments to voters that are common to elections here.
'To mark the nine-month campaign, we have invited leaders of the political parties to sign a peaceful declaration on Saturday. We hope it will prevent them from engaging in 'black' campaigns',' The Jakarta Post quoted KPU member Abdul Azis as saying.
The April election will see the parties vie for places in Indonesia's Parliament in a prelude to the presidential poll next year, setting the stage for frenzied deal-making in the world's third-largest democracy.
The reformist Yudhoyono faces a resurgent threat from former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was trounced by Mr Yuhdoyono in the country's first direct presidential election in 2004.
Recent polls show support for Ms Megawati's People's Democratic Party of Struggle surging, while her position as preferred president has moved ahead of Mr Yudhoyono for the first time since his election.
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