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2004 Indonesian presidential election

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Presidential elections will be held in Indonesia on Monday, July 5, 2004. In August 2002 the Indonesian parliament, the House of People's Representatives, approved an amendment providing for the popular election of the President and Vice-President of the Republic, beginning in 2004. These will be the first direct presidential elections in the history of Indonesia. Previously the President of Indonesia has been elected indirectly, by the legislature.

Candidates

The field of candidates for the presidential election was partly determined by the results of the legislative election held on April 5. Indonesian election law provides that presidential candidates must be nominated by – but not necessarily be members of – a party or coalition that wins at least 5 percent of votes in the parliamentary election, or 3 percent of the 550 seats (that is, 17 seats) in the House of People's Representatives.

As a result, the parties eligible to nominate candidates are:

Candidates were officially supposed to be registered in the week beginning May 1, and announced on May 19. The delay in announcing the results of the legislative elections, however, may lead to a delay in this timetable. The first round of the presidential election will be held on July 5. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, plus at least 20 percent of the vote in at least half of Indonesia's provinces, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held on September 20. The successful candidate will be announced on October 5, and the new President will inaugurated on October 20.

The candidates in the 2004 Indonesian presidential election are:

  1. Golkar nominates the former armed forces chief Wiranto as their candidate after he won a majority vote at 2004 Golkar convention. His vice-presidential candidate is Shalahuddin Wahid (Gus Solah), brother of former president Abdurrahman Wahid and another ranking member of the National Awakening Party. Before being appointed, Gus Solah was a member of National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM). The combination is interesting because Wiranto had an allegation of human rights violation in East Timor. Wiranto is running second in public opinion.
  2. President Megawati Sukarnoputri, elected in 1999, will be seeking a second term at these elections. Her party, the PDI-P, polled only 18.5 percent of the vote in the legislative elections, suggesting that she will have an uphill battle to gain re-election. Her administration has been criticised for inertia and corruption. Megawati has chosen Hasyim Muzadi as her vice-presidential candidate in this election. Hasyim Muzadi is a leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB). Most polls place the incumbent, President Megawati Sukarnoputri, in third place. Her position is weakened by public discontent with the faltering economy, endemic corruption and perceptions of increased insecurity.
  3. National Mandate Party (PAN) appointed Amien Rais as its presidential candidate. His vice-presidential running mate is Siswono Yudo Husodo. He has the support of several small political parties as well as the significant Prosperous Justice Party which commands more than 7% of the national vote. Several recent opinion polls also shown that Amien Rais is the most popular candidate. Amien is one of the leaders that helped overthrow the Suharto regime. Before the election, Amien was the head of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
  4. Another former army officer, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (also known as SBY) is the candidate of the Democrat Party. His vice-presidential candidate is Jusuf Kalla, a well known businessman and a member of Golkar party. His party won significant votes despite having little organization. Before the legislative election, polls suggested SBY was the most popular president candidate. Although recent polls have shown that he has slipped against Amien Rais and Megawati Sukarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono still has a commanding lead over the four other challengers for the presidency.
  5. Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar are the presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls of the United Development Party (PPP). Although PPP won more than 8% of the vote in the legislative election, opinion polls shown that Hamzah Haz is not as popular as his party. He invariably places last in opinion polls conducted in by the mass media.

The National Awakening Party has failed to nominate a presidential candidate. Their chosen candidate, former president Abdurrahman Wahid, was ruled out because he is not physically and mentally fit. His running mate was Marwah Daud Ibrahim from Golkar. The National Awakening Party leaders then has put their weight behind Wiranto. However, it remains to be seen if the party followers will decide to follow their leader's recommendation. At one point Abdurrahman Wahid told his followers not to vote for anyone on election day, but after pressure from the party he decided to retract that statement the day after.

The other party eligible to field a candidate in the presidential election, the Prosperous Justice Party, decided not to bother. It is reported that the party will instead rally its supporters behind Amien Rais.

Campaigns

Campaigning formally started June 1, with a ceremony in the shadow of Indonesia's independence monument in Jakarta. Then candidates' convoys set off to different parts of the city to carry the message to the electorate.

Most observers expect the election to hinge on personalities rather than policies. The fight could become bitter if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote on July 5, forcing a run-off in September.

Reformists hope the election will give a mandate to the winner so that the new leader will have an easier time restarting the stalled reform process. Indonesia was ruled by a succession of authoritarian leaders or dictators until 1998 when violent protests over the economy and corruption forced then-president Suharto from power after 30 years.

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