2004 Indonesian legislative election

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All 550 seats in theHouse of Representatives 276 seats needed for a majority
Registered	148,000,369
Turnout	84.07%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Akbar Tandjung Megawati Sukarnoputri Alwi Shihab Party Golkar PDI-P PKB Last election 120 seats, 22.44% 153 seats, 33.74% 51 seats, 12.61% Seats won 128 109 52 Seat change 8 44 1 Popular vote 24,480,757 21,026,629 11,989,564 Percentage 21.58% 18.53% 10.57% Swing 4.39% 15.21% 0.46%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Hamzah Haz Subur Budhisantoso Hidayat Nur Wahid Party PPP Demokrat PKS Last election 58 seats, 10.71% Did not contest 7 seats, 1.36% Seats won 58 55 45 Seat change 0 New party 38 Popular vote 9,248,764 8,455,225 8,325,020 Percentage 8.15% 7.45% 7.34% Swing 2.56% New party 5.96%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Amien Rais Yusril Ihza Mahendra Bursah Zarnubi Party PAN PBB PBR Last election 34 seats, 7.12% 13 seats, 1.94% Did not contest Seats won 53 11 14 Seat change 19 2 New party Popular vote 7,303,324 2,970,487 2,764,998 Percentage 6.44% 2.62% 2.44% Swing 0.68% 0.68% New party
Results by electoral district
Speaker before election Akbar Tandjung Golkar ElectedSpeaker Agung Laksono Golkar

Legislative elections were held in on 5 April 2004 for both houses of thePeople's Consultative Assembly ofIndonesia. This included all 550 seats in thePeople's Representative Council and 128 seats of the newly formedRegional Representative Council.

Final results of the popular vote tally showed thatGolkar, the former ruling party of theNew Order era, received the most votes. It had lost to theIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the1999 legislative election. TheDemocratic Party and theProsperous Justice Party, two of the newest parties to participate in the elections, received a combined 15% of the popular vote.

Based on the final allocation of seats in the People's Representative Council, Golkar, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, theNational Awakening Party, theUnited Development Party, the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party, and theNational Mandate Party were qualified to submit candidates for the country'sfirst direct presidential election later in the year.

The election has been described as the most complicated election in the history ofdemocracy.^[1][2]

Logo of the election

Mascot of the election

During its 2002 annual session, thePeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) added 14 amendments to theConstitution of Indonesia. Included in these amendments were measures to reorganise the legislature. Beginning in 2004, the MPR was composed of the existingPeople's Representative Council (DPR) and a newRegional Representative Council (DPD). Because all the seats in the MPR weredirectly elected, this called for the removal of themilitary from the legislature, whose 38 seats in the Assembly were appointed.^[3] This change and an amendment for direct election of thePresident andVice President were significant steps for Indonesia on the road towards fulldemocracy.^[4]

On 13 July 2003, PresidentMegawati Sukarnoputri signed into effect a law outlining the composition of the reorganised MPR. The new DPD was composed of four representatives from each of the 32provinces of Indonesia, not totalling more than one-third of the members of the DPR. The revised constitution also set membership in the DPR at 550.^[5]

During the first phases of registration, 150 parties were registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. However, this number was reduced to 50 and then 24 after scrutiny from the newly created General Election Commission.^[6] This reduction from the 48 parties that stood in the1999 legislative election was attributed mainly to a new election law that allowed only parties that had won 2% of seats in the DPR, or 3% of seats in provincial and municipal legislatures in half of the provinces to stand in the 2004 election. Only six parties met this requirement, and the remaining parties were required to merge or reorganise into a new party.^[7]

The campaign period for parties and candidates began on 11 March and continued until 1 April. It was split into two phases byNyepi, theBalinese day of silence. Parties delivered their national agendas indoors between 11 and 25 March. Although this was meant to encourage dialogue between parties and their constituents, these events were poorly attended. TheInternational Foundation for Electoral Systems conducted a tracking survey that showed not all voters knew how to vote for candidates of the new DPD, or were even aware it existed.^[7]

Up to 475,000 candidates were nominated by the political parties in the national, provincial, and regental levels. More than 1,200 candidates stood for 128 seats in the DPD, and 7,756 candidates stood for 550 seats in the DPR. Candidates were elected in anopen list system.^[6]

Election day, 5 April, was relatively free of major incidents and irregularities. Minor violations included officials helping elderly voters cast and submit ballots. Two Indonesian election officials were also reported killed when delivering voting equipment inPapua. TheAustralian Parliamentary Observer Delegation and theEuropean Union Election Observer Mission were among the organisations observing the election.^[8][9]

The election results determined which political parties were eligible to submit candidates for Indonesia's firstdirect presidential election, which was held on 5 July. Only parties that received 5% of the popular vote or 3% of seats in thePeople's Representative Council could submit candidates. Parties that did not meet these criteria had to join with other parties to meet at least one criterion.^[10]

The counting of votes took one month, and the final results were announced on 5 May, one week later than was initially scheduled. Of 148,000,369 registered voters, 124,420,339 ballots (84%) were submitted. Of these ballots, 113,462,414 were considered valid, and 10,957,925 were declared invalid. In thePeople's Representative Council,Golkar received the most number of seats. It had previously lost to theIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the 1999 legislative election after being in power since 1970. However, fourteen of the twenty-four participating parties refused to certify the election results after allegations of irregular vote counting.^[11]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Golkar	24,480,757	21.58	128	+8
	Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle	21,026,629	18.53	109	−44
	National Awakening Party	11,989,564	10.57	52	+1
	United Development Party	9,248,764	8.15	58	0
	Democratic Party	8,455,225	7.45	55	New
	Prosperous Justice Party	8,325,020	7.34	45	+38
	National Mandate Party	7,303,324	6.44	53	+19
	Crescent Star Party	2,970,487	2.62	11	−2
	Reform Star Party	2,764,998	2.44	14	New
	Prosperous Peace Party	2,414,254	2.13	13	New
	Concern for the Nation Functional Party	2,399,290	2.11	2	New
	Indonesian Justice and Unity Party	1,424,240	1.26	1	−3
	United Democratic Nationhood Party	1,313,654	1.16	4	New
	Freedom Bull National Party	1,230,455	1.08	0	New
	Pancasila Patriots' Party	1,073,139	0.95	0	New
	Indonesian National Party Marhaenism	923,159	0.81	1	+1
	Indonesian Nahdlatul Community Party	895,610	0.79	0	−5
	Pioneers' Party	878,932	0.77	3	New
	Indonesian Democratic Vanguard Party	855,811	0.75	1	−1
	Freedom Party	842,541	0.74	0	New
	Indonesian Unity Party	679,296	0.60	0	New
	New Indonesia Alliance Party	672,952	0.59	0	New
	Regional Unity Party	657,916	0.58	0	New
	Social Democrat Labor Party	636,397	0.56	0	0
Total		113,462,414	100.00	550	+88
Valid votes		113,462,414	91.19
Invalid/blank votes		10,957,925	8.81
Total votes		124,420,339	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		148,000,369	84.07
Source:KPU

To achieveproportional representation, seat allocation was conducted using thelargest remainder method, whereby theHare quota was used to determine seats automatically secured by individual parties. Any remaining seats assigned to the electoral region were allocated to remaining political parties based on the rank order of their remaining votes.^[13]

A total of 273 disputes were brought before theConstitutional Court, the last of which were decided on 21 June. Of these cases, 38 decisions affected the final allocation of seats in the People's Representative Council and provincial and regental legislatures. TheDemocratic Party lost two seats, one to theNational Mandate Party andProsperous Peace Party each. ThePioneers' Party gained one seat from theUnited Democratic Nationhood Party. Meanwhile, the only seat allocated to theFreedom Bull National Party by the General Election Commission was reassigned to theReform Star Party.^[14]

After the resolution of all disputes, sixteen parties received at least one seat in thePeople's Representative Council, while eight received none. The inconsistency in the order of parties according to votes received and seats allocated arose due to a special rule created to address uneven population distribution betweenJava and other islands.^[15] This rule stipulates that the Hare quota values for the provinces in Java were on average higher than those for the outer islands. A party require fewer votes to automatically secure a seat outside of Java. For example, theNational Awakening Party (PKB) received more votes than the National Mandate Party (PAN) but received nearly the same number of seats. More than half of PKB seats were received in the party's stronghold ofEast Java, where the quota value was higher. In contrast, only four of PAN seats were automatically secured.^[13]

Results showed thatGolkar, the former ruling party of theNew Order era led byPeople's Representative Council SpeakerAkbar Tanjung, had won the most number of seats, defeating PresidentMegawati Sukarnoputri'sIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Golkar received more votes than other parties in twenty-six out of thirty-two provinces.^[16] However, these results occurred because of declining PDI-P popularity rather than an increase in Golkar's popularity. Golkar's support in its traditional stronghold ofSulawesi declined due to the performance of medium and small parties in the region.^[17] Despite winning the largest share of vote once again inBali, PDI-P performance there suffered the greatest after the2002 bombings by terrorist groupJemaah Islamiyah devastated the island province's economy.^[18]

Both theNational Awakening Party (PKB) and theUnited Development Party (PPP), both of whom were consideredIslamist parties, maintained their rankings in the People's Representative Council. The PKB, co-founded by former President and formerNahdlatul Ulama ChairmanAbdurrahman Wahid, continued to perform well in its stronghold ofEast Java despite losing votes.^[19]

The IslamicProsperous Justice Party (PKS) and theDemocratic Party (PD) finished first and second, respectively, inJakarta, where voting patterns were considered a "barometer of Indonesian politics". Together, both parties received 43% of the vote in the capital city.^[20]

Polarisation of voting patterns based on religion was evident in the eastern provinces.Christianity-basedProsperous Peace Party (PDS) received 15% of the vote in Christian-dominatedNorth Sulawesi and 13 seats overall in the People's Representative Council. Likewise, Muslims were more likely to vote for the PKS in regions where religious conflict has been historically prevalent.^[21]

The 2004 legislative election was the most complicated inIndonesian history because Indonesians had to vote for representatives at the national, provincial, and regental levels.^[22] These factors madeIndonesia's electoral system unique from other systems in the world.^[23] The election was described as the longest and most complicated election in the history ofdemocracy and secured the nation's place as the world's third-largest democracy.^[1][2] Even before the election, the seat allocation system for the People's Representative Council was also deemed "the most complicated in the world" by several news sources across the country.^[24][25]

Seven political parties met the criteria to submit candidates for theJuly presidential election:Golkar, theIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), theNational Awakening Party (PKB), theUnited Development Party (PPP), theDemocratic Party (PD), theProsperous Justice Party (PKS), and theNational Mandate Party (PAN). The PKS was the only party not to nominate candidates, but it threw its support behind PAN'sAmien Rais.^[10]

Newly elected members of thePeople's Representative Council (DPR) andmembers of theRegional Representative Council (DPD) took theoath of office in separate sessions on 1 October, one day later than was scheduled.^[26] Both houses then convened together in the early morning of 2 October and took the oath of office as thePeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR).^[27]Ginandjar Kartasasmita was elected the inaugural chairman of the DPD with 72 of 128 votes in a run-off againstIrman Gusman on 1 October. The following day,Agung Laksono of Golkar was elected Speaker of the DPR by a vote of 280 to 257. The Chairman of the MPR was not elected until several days later whenHidayat Nur Wahid of the PKS won the vote 326 to 324 against PDI-P'sSutjipto.^[28]

On 5 October threeregencies were carved out of the province ofSouth Sulawesi to formWest Sulawesi as the 33rd province of Indonesia.^[29] Because this occurred after the elections, West Sulawesi was not represented in the Regional Representative Council until the2009 legislative election.

• List of members of the People's Representative Council, 2004–2009

• Ananta, Aris; Arifin, Evi Nurvidya & Suryadinata, Leo (2005).Emerging Democracy in Indonesia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.ISBN 978-981-230-322-6.
• Partai-partai Politik Indonesia: Ideologi dan Program, 2004–2009 (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Kompas. 2004.ISBN 978-979-709-121-7.
• Shimizu, Maiko & Hazri, Herizal (2004)."Indonesia: General Assembly Election, Presidential Election, 2004"(PDF). Bangkok: Asian Network for Free Elections. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved10 June 2009.
• Sissener, Tone (2004).The Republic of Indonesia: General and Presidential Elections, April – September 2004(PDF). Norwegian Centre for Human Rights.ISBN 978-82-90851-80-9. Retrieved9 June 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
• "The Carter Center 2004 Indonesia Election Report"(PDF).Carter Center. 2005. Retrieved11 June 2009.

• General Election Commission(in Indonesian)
• EconPapers: The Political Robustness in Indonesia
• Psephos – Adam Carr's Election Archive: Republic of Indonesia 2004 legislative election

• 2004 elections in Asia
• 2004 elections in Indonesia
• Legislative elections in Indonesia
• People's Consultative Assembly
• April 2004 in Indonesia

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