The 2004 election and the establishment of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency, including the consolidation of Indonesian democracy, civil-military relations, and the conclusion of the national study period

What this dot point is asking

NESA expects you to explain the 2004 election, its political and constitutional significance, and Yudhoyono's profile and early presidency, as the closing event of the national study period (1942 to 2005). Strong answers integrate the constitutional history, the political coalitions, and the policy continuities and innovations.

The answer

The constitutional path to direct election

The 2004 presidential election was the first under direct popular vote. The third constitutional amendment (November 2001) had introduced direct election; the fourth amendment (August 2002) had completed the procedural framework. Under the amended UUD 1945, a winning ticket required more than 50 per cent of the national vote and over 20 per cent in more than half the provinces; otherwise a runoff between the top two pairs would be held.

The Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi), inaugurated 13 August 2003, was given jurisdiction over electoral disputes. The General Elections Commission (KPU) administered registration and the count. The 2004 legislative election (5 April 2004) preceded and partly determined the presidential field; parties needed 5 per cent of legislative seats or 3 per cent of the popular vote to nominate a presidential ticket.

The candidate field

Five tickets contested the first round.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with Jusuf Kalla, nominated by the Democrat Party (Partai Demokrat), PBB, and PKPI. Yudhoyono ("SBY") was a retired four-star general with a doctorate in agricultural economics from Bogor (IPB), the former TNI commander for the Bosnian UN mission, and Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security under both Wahid and Megawati. Kalla was the deputy chairman of GOLKAR and a major South Sulawesi entrepreneur.

Megawati Sukarnoputri with K.H. Hasyim Muzadi, nominated by PDI-P. Megawati was the incumbent president (since July 2001) and the daughter of Sukarno. Hasyim Muzadi was chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama.

General (ret.) Wiranto with Salahuddin Wahid, nominated by GOLKAR. Wiranto had been Armed Forces Commander in 1998 to 1999 and had been indicted (without trial) by UN authorities over East Timor 1999. Salahuddin Wahid was Abdurrahman Wahid's brother.

Amien Rais with Siswono Yudo Husodo, nominated by PAN. Rais was MPR Chairman and a leading 1998 reformist.

K.H. Hamzah Haz with Agum Gumelar, nominated by PPP. Haz was Vice-President to Megawati.

The first round, 5 July 2004

The first round produced no majority. Final results: Yudhoyono-Kalla 33.57 per cent (39.8 million votes); Megawati-Hasyim 26.61 per cent; Wiranto-Salahuddin 22.15 per cent; Amien Rais-Siswono 14.66 per cent; Hamzah Haz-Agum Gumelar 3.01 per cent. Turnout was 78.2 per cent of 153 million registered voters.

The result eliminated GOLKAR's old-regime candidate (Wiranto) and the long-tail Islamic and reformist candidates. The runoff would be Yudhoyono against Megawati.

The runoff, 20 September 2004

Both candidates campaigned on broadly similar platforms: more economic growth, stronger anti-corruption, defence of national unity. The substantive difference was generational and stylistic. Yudhoyono presented as a calm, reformist former general; Megawati's reputation was for political reticence and clientelism.

The runoff produced Yudhoyono-Kalla 60.62 per cent (69.3 million votes) to Megawati-Hasyim 39.38 per cent. Turnout was 76.6 per cent. Yudhoyono won majorities in 28 of Indonesia's 33 provinces; Megawati carried Bali, Central Java, and a handful of others.

Megawati conceded promptly. International observers (the Carter Center, the EU, ANFREL) judged the election free and fair. The Constitutional Court certified the result.

The inauguration, 20 October 2004

Yudhoyono was sworn in on 20 October 2004 at the MPR building in Jakarta. Megawati did not attend, a public snub, but the transfer of executive power at the State Palace was peaceful. Indonesia, which had ended Sukarno's rule in 1966 to 1967 and Suharto's rule in 1998 through extraconstitutional pressure, had now transferred presidential power through a popular vote.

The Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu and early agenda

The first Yudhoyono cabinet ("Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu," United Indonesia Cabinet) was sworn in on 21 October 2004 with 34 members balanced across coalition partners. Sri Mulyani Indrawati at State Planning (later Finance from December 2005) and Mari Pangestu at Trade became internationally credible technocrats. Boediono (BAPPENAS chair, later finance minister 2005 and Vice-President 2009) anchored macroeconomic management.

The first hundred days included corruption prosecutions of former Acehnese governor Abdullah Puteh; a fuel-subsidy reform; and the start of formal Helsinki talks on Aceh. The December 2004 tsunami struck within Yudhoyono's first six weeks, forcing him to lead the largest disaster response in Indonesian history (around $7 billion in international aid).

The Aceh MoU was signed on 15 August 2005. The first Yudhoyono term also delivered the 2009 free election (Yudhoyono re-elected with 60.8 per cent), the 2008 prosecution of Suharto's son Tommy on lesser charges, the establishment of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK, formally founded 2003 but consolidated under Yudhoyono), and an average GDP growth rate of around 5.6 per cent across his first term.

The end of the national study period

The HSC national study syllabus closes in 2005. By that date the Indonesian transition begun on 21 May 1998 had produced free and fair direct elections, four constitutional amendments, an independent court, an effective counter-terrorism capacity, the end of Aceh's 29-year insurgency, and the international reintegration of Indonesian foreign policy. The Republic that emerged from these years was the world's third-largest democracy, the fourth most populous country, the largest Muslim-majority democracy, and a G20 economy.

Major unresolved questions remained: impunity for the 1965 to 1966 killings, the May 1998 violence, and East Timor; persistent corruption; Papua; communal conflict in Central Sulawesi. The historiographical consensus (Aspinall, Mietzner, Vickers) is that Reformasi consolidated procedural democracy but left substantive accountability questions for later generations.

Timeline

Historiography

R. William Liddle and Saiful Mujani ("Indonesia in 2004," Asian Survey 2005) treat the 2004 election as the consolidation of Indonesian democracy and the closure of the Reformasi transition.

Edward Aspinall (Democracy for Sale, 2019) treats Yudhoyono's election as the moment the patronage networks of the New Order rebuilt themselves within competitive elections; Indonesian democracy thus became "oligarchic but durable."

Marcus Mietzner (Money, Power, and Ideology, 2013) emphasises the role of clean-image candidates (Yudhoyono, later Jokowi) in sustaining public support for democratic institutions despite persistent corruption.

Greg Fealy and Sally White (Expressing Islam, 2008) treat the period as the maturation of a pluralist political Islam: PKS, PAN, PKB, and PPP all operate within democratic institutions.

Adrian Vickers (A History of Modern Indonesia, 2013) closes the modern Indonesian narrative on Yudhoyono and treats the 1998 to 2004 transition as the most consequential domestic political change since 1965.

How to read a source on this topic

First, recognise the institutional novelty. No Indonesian president had been directly elected before Yudhoyono. The 1955 election was for a constituent assembly. Sukarno, Suharto, Habibie, Wahid and Megawati were all chosen by the MPR.

Second, weigh Yudhoyono's military background carefully. He was a former general (1990s Wahid loyalist), but his reformist credentials were earned in opposition to Wiranto's faction. The election was not a militarist restoration.

Third, note Kalla's role. The Vice-President was the most influential VP in Indonesian history, leading the Aceh negotiations, the tsunami recovery, and the cabinet's economic team. Kalla returned as Joko Widodo's VP in 2014.

Common exam traps

Treating the election as foreordained. The first round eliminated Wiranto (GOLKAR), and the runoff between Yudhoyono and Megawati was genuinely competitive in early polls.

Misdating direct presidential election. The constitutional change was 2002 (fourth amendment); the first vote was 2004. The 1999 presidential vote was still by the MPR.

Forgetting the legislative election. The 5 April 2004 DPR election shaped the presidential field through the candidate threshold.

Treating the 2004 election as the end of the Reformasi. It is the end of the syllabus period, but Reformasi as a political project continued well beyond 2005.

In one sentence

The 5 July 2004 first round and 20 September 2004 runoff in which Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla won 60.6 per cent against Megawati Sukarnoputri produced Indonesia's first directly elected president, completed the institutional consolidation of Reformasi, gave the new government the legitimacy to negotiate the Helsinki Aceh MoU and respond to the December 2004 tsunami, and closed the HSC national study period with Indonesia recognised as the world's third-largest democracy.