Ed Davies & Sunanda Creagh – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a clear favorite to win a second term in office in a July election, helped by the resilient performance of Southeast Asia's largest economy during the global crisis.

The poll line-up was finalized after a deadline to register expired on Saturday and will pit the reform-minded Yudhoyono against a political elite with its roots in the Suharto era.

Yudhoyono is being challenged by his outspoken Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who chairs Golkar, once the political machine of former strongman President Suharto, and Megawati Sukarnoputri, who heads the PDI-P Party and was defeated by Yudhoyono in a second-round vote in 2004.

"The economy will be the main issue in the election campaign," said Sri Eko Budi Wardani, a political analyst at the Center for Political Studies at the University of Indonesia.

A second Yudhoyono term is regarded as the most investor friendly outcome and the markets have widely reflected this, helping make the rupiah the best performing currency in Asia this year and driving up the benchmark stock index.

"Looking at the latest numbers, I think it will be maybe one round," said Anies Baswedan, a political analyst from Paramadina University. To win the election in one round, a candidate needs 50 percent of the vote, otherwise there will be a second round some time in September.

Yudhoyono may try to seek more professional ministers if he won a new term rather than handing out jobs to appease parties in his coalition, Baswedan said.

Some current ministers from allied parties have been seen as a drag on Yudhoyono's reform efforts. "He will want to leave a good legacy in his second term and he will need the right people in the right place for that," Anies said.