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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday declared his bid for a second term in office and officially named Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as his running mate to contest the election on July 8.

It was a happy ending for the Democratic Party (PD) and its allies, with Yudhoyono and Boediono shaking hands, hugging and kissing cheek to cheek with representatives from the 22 coalition parties before an audience of 2,000 people at Sabuga Hall.

Among the party leaders attending the ceremony were United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadharma Ali, who is also the Cooperative Minister, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar, also the House of Representatives deputy speaker, Indonesian Unity and Justice Party (PKPI) chief Meutia Hatta, also the minister for women's empowerment and National Mandate Party (PAN) executive Patrialis Akbar.

Yudhoyono appeared to hold back tears as he received congratulations from his supporters at center stage, while TV cameras panned across images of Boediono and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chief Tifatul Sembiring embracing each other.

The declaration came just a few hours after negotiations between the parties that could have driven PKS away from the coalition. In the last past two days PKS had threatened to quit the coalition unless Yudhoyono reconsidered his controversial choice of Boediono as his vice-presidential candidate. The Islamic-based party considered Boediono neither representative of the coalition members nor the Muslim majority of Indonesia.

Tifatul said that after more than one hour of closed-door meetings with Yudhoyono prior to the ceremony in Bandung, PKS agreed to stay put with the coalition.

"Yes, Insya Allah *God willing*, the coalition continues," Tifatul told reporters, denying that the meeting centered around discussions of power sharing.

Tifatul said Yudhoyono, fresh from his visit to Manado, had explained he opted for Boediono as his running mate because he needed an experienced economist to help Indonesia survive the global financial crisis.

During his speech, Yudhoyono put to rest accusations that Boediono was a neoliberalist, saying his former chief economics minister was the individual behind the enactment of sharia finance and Islamic bond laws.

Yudhoyono described Boediono as a devout Muslim who would help him run a "clean and accountable government".

Boediono, a respected US-educated professor of economics, had held a number of ministerial posts during the tenure of Yudhoyono and his predecessor's before his election as the central bank's governor last year. Yudhoyono hailed Boediono as a key figure behind Indonesia's survival of the global financial crisis.

Yudhoyono coined the campaign slogan "SBY Berbudi", an acronym for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with Boediono, during his speech. The word "berbudi" also means wise.