Political career[edit]
Wahid Presidency[edit]
Yudhoyono was appointed Mining and Energy Minister in the cabinet of President Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999. According to General Wiranto, who assisted Wahid in the formation of the Cabinet, he had recommended to the President that Yudhoyono would do better as Army Chief of Staff.[8] However, Wahid rejected the idea and Yudhoyono became the Minister of Mining and Energy instead. At the same time, Yudhoyono ended his military career with the rank of Lieutenant General, although he would be made honorary General in 2000.
Yudhoyono's popularity grew,[citation needed] even as Minister of Mining and Energy. In June 2000, there were rumors that Wahid, because of his lack of skill as an administrator was going to appoint a First Minister to look after the day to day running of the Government.[9] Yudhoyono's name appeared as a potential candidate for the position, although eventually Wahid appointed Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri as the day to day administrator.
In August 2000, after a Cabinet reshuffle, Yudhoyono became the Coordinating Minister for Politic and Security Affairs. One of his tasks was to separate the army from politics. This was in line with his reformist ideas on the future of Indonesian military, and is a view he has held since his days in an army policy center. He said at that time:
“ Since 1998, the military has decided to stay out of day-to-day politics. The basic idea of military reform is to go back to the role and function of the military as a defense force and move them away from politics systematically. The trend is moving in such a way that there is no so-called 'dual function' of the military, there is no so-called social political mission in the military. ”
Another task that Yudhoyono was given was as an intermediary between Wahid and the Suharto family. At the time, Wahid was trying to make Suharto hand back all the money which he had allegedly obtained through corruption when he was president.[citation needed] Yudhoyono was sent by Wahid to convey this wish and to negotiate with the former first family. However, Yudhoyono was not successful in this venture.
At the beginning of 2001, with political pressure increasing on him, Wahid ordered Yudhoyono to form a crisis centre with Yudhoyono as Chairman[10] The purpose of this crisis centre was to assist the president in giving policy advice and was headquartered at Yudhoyono's office. It seemed as if because of this appointment, Yudhoyono could be considered one of Wahid's men, however Yudhoyono would break ranks from Wahid in July 2001 when the latter was facing impeachment. In desperation, Wahid issued a decree freezing the People's Representative Council (DPR) and then asked Yudhoyono to declare a state of emergency to further strengthen his position. Yudhoyono refused to accept this, and Wahid dismissed him.[11]