Jakarta - Campaigning began Tuesday for Indonesia's July 8 presidential election, with incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looking poised for victory.

Opinion polls indicate that Yudhoyono would win more than 60 per cent of the vote and avoid a run-off scheduled for September.

His Democratic Party won the legislative elections in April with 21 per cent of the vote, tripling its gains from the 2004 polls.

Yudhoyono, a former general with a doctorate in agriculture, has picked a respected economist and former central bank chief, Boediono, as his running mate in a move welcomed by the financial markets.

Yudhoyono's closest rival is former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who teams up with Prabowo Soebianto, a wealthy former general whose military career was cut short after his troops abducted pro-democracy activists in the dying days of former president Suharto's autocratic rule.

Suharto, one of whose daughters once married to Prabowo, resigned in 1998.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla broke ranks with Yudhoyono and is contesting the top job, picking a former armed forces chief with a checkered human rights record, Wiranto, as his running mate.

Yudhoyono's government has been credited with managing the economy well, improving security after a series of attacks blamed on Islamic militants and fighting corruption in one of the world's most graft- prone countries.

"People trust SBY more than they trust the other candidates," said Anas Urbaningrum, a deputy chairman of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, using the president's initials.

"Two latest surveys indicate that SBY enjoys strong support, between 67-69, and if those figures are stable, we may only need one round," he said.

The next government is expected to face a daunting economic task as the country feels the brunt of the global financial crisis.

Indonesia's economy is expected to grow about 4 per cent this year.

Yudhoyono is backed by the Islam-based Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) and other smaller, mostly Muslim parties, in the presidential poll. (dpa)