Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), is an Indonesian retired military general and the sixth President of Indonesia. Yudhoyono won the presidency in September 2004 in the second round of the Indonesian presidential election, in which he defeated incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri. He was sworn into office on October 20, 2004, together with Jusuf Kalla as Vice President.
Javanese do not have surnames in the Western sense.[1] The name Yudhoyono was not inherited either from his father or his mother. While Susilo Bambang uses Yudhoyono in naming his children, it is not an inherited family surname. In Indonesia, he is referred to in some media as Susilo and is widely known by the initial SBY. Abroad, he is referred to as Yudhoyono, a name that he chose for his military name-tag, while in formal meetings and functions he is addressed as Dr. Yudhoyono. Susilo is apparently derived from Susila in Sanskrit which in means 'well-behaved' or perhaps Sushil, which means 'one with good character'.
In his early life
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was born in Tremas, a village in Arjosari, Pacitan, East Java, on September 9, 1949, to a lower-middle class family and is the son of Raden Soekotjo and Siti Habibah. [2] Since he was a child, he always wanted to be in the army.[3] His first school was Sekolah Rakyat Gadjahmada (now is SDN Baleharjo I). Yudhoyono developed a reputation as an extremely talented student in addition to being an academic achiever, excelling in writing poems, short stories, and play-acting. Yudhoyono was also talented in music and sport, reflected when he and his friends established a volleyball club called "Klub Rajawali" and a band called "Gaya Teruna".[4] Music became a hobby for Yudhoyono and he often sang one of his favorite songs, "Pelangi di Matamu" during his presidential campaign.[5]
When he was in 5th grade, Yudhoyono visited the National Military Academy (AMN) at Magelang. After seeing the soldiers training there and perhaps inspired by his own father's career, Yudhoyono became determined to join ABRI and become a soldier. Yudhoyono had originally wanted to get into the ABRI Academy (Akabri) after graduating from high school in 1968, however, he missed out because he did not register in time.[3]
Yudhoyono then became a lecturer at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) before entering the Teachers Education School in Malang, East Java. There, he was able to prepare everything for the next phase of his education at Akabri. Yudhoyono officially entered Akabri in 1970 after passing the test which took place in Bandung, West Java.[3]
Road to Presidency
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By 2003 there was a gathering momentum behind the possibility of Yudhoyono being a Presidential Candidate.[14] The National Democratic Union Party (PPDK) was the first to bring up the subject of nomination. In September 2003, Yudhoyono's own PD began to make preparations in the case that Yudhoyono was willing to accept a Presidential nomination. PD then initiated a publicity campaign to promote Yudhoyono as a candidate. For his part, Yudhoyono was not responsive both to PPDK or PD's maneuverings to nominate him and continued his duties as Minister. PPDK was disappointed to Yudhoyono's reaction and PD continued to wait for Yudhoyono to resign his position as what was expected of all Presidential candidates apart from the incumbent President and Vice President.
The turning point came on 1st March 2004, when Yudhoyono's secretary, Sudi Silalahi announced to the media that for the last 6 months, Yudhoyono had been excluded from policy decision-making in the field of Politics and Security.[15] On 2 March, Megawati responded that she had never excluded Yudhoyono while her husband, Taufik Kiemas called Yudhoyono childish for complaining to the media instead of the President herself. On 8 March, Yudhoyono sent a letter asking for permission to meet the President about his ministerial authorities. Megawati did not respond when she received the letter, although she invited Yudhoyono along to a Cabinet meeting on 11 March. Yudhoyono did not attend the Cabinet meeting and instead held a press conference at his office and announced his resignation from the position of Coordinating Minister of Politics and Security. Yudhoyono also announced that he is ready to be nominated as President.
Yudhoyono's popularity skyrocketed after his falling out with Megawati as he was seen by the people to be the underdog. However this popularity did not translate to a victory for PD at the 2004 Legislative Elections. There, PD won 7.5% of the votes which was still enough to nominate Yudhoyono as a Presidential candidate. Yudhoyono accepted the nomination and picked Golkar's Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. Aside from PD, their Presidential and Vice Presidential candidacy were also supported by the Crescent Star Party (PBB), Star Reform Party (PBR) and Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI).[16]
Yudhoyono's manifesto for the future of Indonesia, summarised in a book titled "Vision For Change" written by him and distributed for free during the campaign, was built on four pillars: prosperity, peace, justice and democracy. At the top of his agenda was a plan for increasing economic prosperity, aiming for economic growth of at least 7% and a revival of small and medium-sized enterprises. He also put forward policies to offer better credit lines, to cut red tape, improve labor laws and to root out corruption from the top down. He told an interviewer:
| “ | If we are to reduce poverty, create jobs, increase purchasing power and rebuild infrastructure, then we will need new capital. Of course, to be able to invite investment, I have to improve the climate — legal certainties, political stability, law and order, sound tax policies, customs policies, good labor management. I will improve the guarantees to encourage investors to come to Indonesia. | ” |
Yudhoyono's perceived reputation for intellectual and communication skills capabilities made him the front-runner throughout the election campaign, according to many opinion polls and the opinions of election commentators,[17] a long way ahead of the other candidates (Megawati, Wiranto, Amien Rais, and Hamzah). On 5 July 2004, Yudhoyono participated in the first round of Presidential Elections coming first with 33% of the votes. However, 50% of votes are required for a new President and Vice President to be elected and this meant Yudhoyono going into a run-off against Megawati.
For the run-off, Yudhoyono faced challenge from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), forming a National Coalition with Golkar, PPP, Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and Indonesian National Party (PNI). Yudhoyono then declared that his coalition, which now received political support from the National Awakening Party (PKB), Prosperous Justice PartyNational Mandate Party (PAN), would be the People's Coalition. (PKS) and the
On 20 September 2004, Yudhoyono participated in the run-off election, winning it with 60.87% of the vote.
Yudhoyono was inaugurated as President on 20 October 2004.
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