Supporters gesture along with Jakarta governor and presidential candidate Joko Widodo, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), during a party campaign at Cengkareng soccer field in Jakarta on Sunday. — Reuters JAKARTA — Indonesia's raucous election season kicked off on Sunday with the promise of a fresh style of leadership in the world's third largest democracy, whose economic promise has been sapped by rampant graft, confusing policy and weak rule. An uncertain election outlook abruptly changed on Friday when the main PDI-P opposition party named the hugely popular governor of Jakarta as its candidate for July's presidential election. That lifted even further its chances of dominating the parliamentary election on April 9. A hint of the euphoria attached to the nomination of the charismatic Governor Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, was shown in the 3.2 percent jump in Jakarta share prices after the announcement. “(It was) driven by sentiment that Indonesia will have a good president who is willing to take difficult decisions, has a good and clean historical track record ... and most of all an expectation of a smooth transition of power,” said Wilianto Ie, head of research at Maybank Kim Eng in Jakarta. It will only be Indonesia's third direct election since it tumbled into democracy 16 years ago amid social and economic chaos in the wake of the downfall of former dictator Suharto. Nearly 190 million Indonesians are registered to vote to choose a new Parliament and so decide which parties meet a threshhold to field a candidate in the presidential election three months later. Though close to 90 percent of the population identifies itself as Muslim, none of the Islamic parties are expected to win a major chunk of the vote, including the current leading Muslim party, PKS, whose reputation has been hit hard by a highly publicized corruption scandal. The ruling Democrat Party of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, restricted by the constitution from seeking a third term, has seen public support plummet to single digits after graft scandals claimed senior officials. — Reuters
