At the surface, Yudhoyono's moderating presidency appeared successful He escaped impeachment proceedings, maintained stability in his government, and reduced communal violence. For a country with a long history of political Indonesia's decade of should not be taken for and Yudhoyono deserves credit for presiding over it. Yet after two presidential terms, Yudhoyono did not end his rule amidst collective praise. in the words of an Australian commentator in October 2014, Yudhoyono was booed off stage In May 2013, only 30 per cent of Indonesians were still satisfied with Yudhoyono's performance, down from 75 per cent in November 2009 Apparently, what Yudhoyono himself proudly perceived as prudent, consensus-oriented executive management was now widely condemned as unwillingness to make tough decisions and, indeed, refusal to carry out presidential responsibilities. More seriously for Indonesia, it turned out that Yudhoyono's ostensible pacification of the country's deep-seated tensions had been temporary at best; at worst, Yudhoyono aggravated these conflicts by creating an environment in which a populist, belligerent challenge to the political stasis was almost inevitable. Paradoxically, then, Yudhoyono's major legacy was to provoke public calls for the dismantling of the artificial calm he had imposed on Indonesian politics