1999 Indonesian presidential election
Indirect presidential elections were held in Indonesia between 20 and 21 October 1999. The President and Vice President were elected by members of the People's Consultative Assembly and 200 nominated members after the June 1999 legislative elections.
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Abdurrahman Wahid was elected president on 20 October and was inaugurated on the same day, while Megawati Soekarnoputri was elected vice president the following day.[1]
Background
In October, the People's Consultative Assembly made up of the People's Representative Council and 200 nominated members from the military and selected civilians, a total of 700, met to elect the President and Vice President.
There were initially four candidates for the presidency; Abdurrahman Wahid, B. J. Habibie, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Yusril Ihza Mahendra. However Habibie refused the nomination from Golkar after his accountability speech was rejected by the MPR the day before election, while Yusril withdrew his candidacy on election day.[2]
Election day
On 20 October Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the PKB was elected, beating Megawati Sukarnoputri by 373 votes to 313, although her party (PDI-P) won the most votes in the legislative election and had one-third of the parliamentary seats. This triggered riots among Megawati's supporters. The following day, Megawati was nominated by Gus Dur's party (PKB) as vice president and got elected, beating Hamzah Haz from the PPP by 396 votes to 284. This ended the street protests.[3][4]
This was the first and last democratically indirect presidential election in Indonesia and the first presidential election that did not feature a candidate from ruling-party (Golkar).
Result
President
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abdurrahman Wahid | National Awakening Party | 373 | 54.37 | |
Megawati Sukarnoputri | Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle | 313 | 45.63 | |
Total | 686 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 686 | 99.28 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 5 | 0.72 | ||
Total votes | 691 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 700 | 98.71 |
Vice president
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Megawati Sukarnoputri | Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle | 396 | 58.24 | |
Hamzah Haz | United Development Party | 284 | 41.76 | |
Total | 680 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 680 | 99.27 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 5 | 0.73 | ||
Total votes | 685 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 700 | 97.86 |
References
- "Pemilihan Presiden dari Masa ke Masa". news.Detik.com. Detik News. Oct 19, 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- Djadja Suparman (2013). Jejak kudeta, 1997-2005 catatan harian Letnan Jenderal (Purn) TNI Djadja Suparman. Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. p. 208. ISBN 9789794618370. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- Friend, Theodore (2003) Indonesian Destinies, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, pp. 461–462 ISBN 978-0-6740113-7-3
- Ricklefs, M.C (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1200 (Fourth ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-230-54685-1.