Ex-leader endorses Widodo rival:

Setting the stage for a re-run of Indonesia’s 2014 election, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday he would support an opposition leader to challenge President Joko Widodo in polls due next year.

Indonesians are due to vote for members of parliament and the president in April, but tensions are already mounting because candidates for the presidency have until Aug 10 to register with the election commission.

“We came here with one understanding that Mr Prabowo is our presidential candidate,” Yudhoyono told a news conference after meeting Prabowo Subianto, head of the Gerindra party and a former armed forces general who was narrowly defeated by Widodo in the last election.

Widodo, a former furniture businessman and the first president to come from outside the political or military establishment, is expected to seek another five-year term. A quietly spoken reformer, he has enjoyed strong popularity.

Regional elections held last month showed that candidates who favoured Widodo were ahead in three provinces of Java island, home to more than half of the population. (RTRS)