As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono defeated Megawati Sukarnoputri and was elected president.

In the first round, former cabinet member and retired general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received a plurality of the valid ballots submitted, followed by Megawati.

The PKB, which was led by Abdurrahman Wahid, the leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), had also pledged to support Megawati for president.

[5] In December 2003, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) began a tracking survey in order to assess the popularity of potential candidates.

However, by the time of the April 2004 legislative election, retired General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had taken the lead from Megawati after resigning from her cabinet in March.

On 22 May, the commission announced that the PKB's presidential candidate, former President Abdurrahman Wahid, had failed the eye test and was not allowed to enter in the election.

[8] He initially told supporters not to vote for a presidential candidate on election day but decided to retract that statement after pressure from the party.

The party nominated retired General Wiranto and Salahuddin Wahid, deputy chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, for its presidential ticket.

[12] When riots broke out throughout the country in 1998 against Suharto, he refused to take control in order to avoid the deaths of protesting university students.

[12] On 9 May Golkar selected Salahuddin Wahid (also known as Gus Sholah) as its vice-presidential candidate after an endorsement was made by his brother Abdurrahman.

She was joined by vice-presidential candidate Hasyim Muzadi, general chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

[20] As Chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama, he was criticised by many NU members for not adhering to the organisation's khittah and the principle of political neutrality.

However, despite leading the second-largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia, Amien established the PAN following the resignation of President Suharto as a party not based on religious affiliation.

He served as the chairman of the Indonesian Farmers' Association (HKTI) and held ministerial positions during the later years of Suharto's presidency.

[22] The Democratic Party, supported by PKPI and PBB, nominated retired General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for its presidential candidate.

While serving as Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs under Abdurrahman Wahid, he refused an order to declare a state of emergency that would have stopped the parliamentary process to impeach the President and was subsequently dismissed.

[26] Yudhoyono was nominated for vice president after the MPR selected Megawati to succeed Abdurrahman Wahid, but he lost the election to PPP Chairman Hamzah Haz and DPR Speaker Akbar Tanjung.

[22] The Democratic Party, established as a vehicle for Yudhoyono's political career by secular nationalists who saw the potential of his leadership,[27] received 7.45% of votes and 10% of DPR seats in the April legislative election.

[18] Yudhoyono's running mate was Jusuf Kalla, a wealthy Bugis businessman and member of Golkar who served as Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare under Megawati.

Although the BBC reported him once stating that "no woman was fit to head the world's leading Muslim nation", he came into office as the deputy to Indonesia's first female president.

[35] A relatively unknown figure in the political scene, Agum Gumelar served as Minister of Transportation under Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati.

However, both men eventually formed their own ticket, and Agum declined a vice-presidential candidate offer from Amien Rais in order to remain on the cabinet.

[28] Corruption, collusion, and nepotism are the most consistently cited concerns among voters surveyed by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

This was attributed by Indonesian observers to Yudhoyono's lack of a nationwide party machine, such as Megawati's PDI-P and Wiranto's Golkar.

[citation needed] The counting of 113 million votes, already a massive task in such a large and diverse country, was made more difficult by problems with the ballot papers.

Wiranto and Salahuddin argued that, due to irregularities in ballot counting by the KPU, they had lost 5,434,660 votes from twenty-six provinces.

[53] Although the first one hundred days of Yudhoyono's administration saw continuing economic stability, it was overshadowed by the events of the Indian Ocean earthquake which occurred on 26 December.