Jakarta – Negative, personalized campaigns are intensifying among presidential and vice presidential candidates, which according to a political analyst violated the political code of ethics.

Maswadi Rauf, a political expert from the University of Indonesia, said that to uphold the political code of ethics, the presidential candidates should launch attacks on their rivals by criticizing their programs instead of their personalities.

Kicking off his campaign trail Thursday, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono criticized aspirants with business backgrounds, which he said would result in a corrupted government if they won the presidential election.

He was apparently referring to his rival Jusuf Kalla and presidential hopeful Megawati Soekarnoputri's running mate Prabowo Subianto, who reportedly has a personal fortune worth Rp 1.7 trillion.

He also blamed his government's low performance in the past 4.5 years on the country's poor condition that was inherited from his predecessor, seemingly referring to Megawati, who presided over the nation from 2000 until 2004

Responding to SBY's statement, Megawati and Pramono Anung, the Indonesian's Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) secretary general, called on the incumbent President to identify who he meant by "predecessor".

Reacting to SBY's criticism, Jusuf Kalla said during his campaign trail in Central Sulawesi on Friday that a dubious leader could not achieve significant advances for the nation and therefore, the country was in need of a strong leader who could act quickly in handling all issues.

A campaign team member for Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto, Sofjan Wanandi, challenged SBY, saying the most corrupt government officials had military backgrounds, rather than business ones.

"As businessmen, we have our code of ethics. But if you look at Indonesian history, it is officials with military backgrounds who have misused power for their personal and familial interests," he told Kompas.com on Saturday.