Let me begin by saying that our nation is blessed, for having successfully conducted one of the world's most complex Legislative and Presidential elections peacefully; orderly and democratically. It is a sign that our democracy continues to mature. We need to continue to modernize our way of politics, so that we can evolve a better political culture. Through direct elections for the President, we were able to eliminate distortions and manipulations of the people's voice, and for that we are all grateful.

On October 4, the Commission for the General Elections (KPU) officially announced that in the second round of Presidential elections, Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and M. Jusuf Kalla obtained the greater number of popular votes, with over 60 % of the total votes counted.

On October 7, the Constitutional Court declared the KPU results to be final and binding.

Yusuf Kalla and I are grateful to have earned the people's trust to lead this great nation for 2004-2005.

We wish to thank all the voters, all of our supporters, all, of the sympathizers, all of the organizers and volunteers who made this long journey possible. Without you, none of this would be possible. We are touched by your fighting spirit and dedication. You have worked day and night sincerely, imbued by a simple motive : to do good for the country. Your fiery idealism will continue to alight in my heart. I hope that you will continue to march with us, in spirit, in thought, in deeds. I promise you : our struggle will elevate our nation to a better place.

We also thank President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz for their role and support in ensuring the success of this year's elections. I feel honored to succeed President Megawati, and 1 am grateful to be able to work with her in nurturing our young democracy.

We thank and appreciate all those who have contributed to ensure the success of the Presidential elections : all Government apparatus, the Commission for the General Elections (KPU), the Elections Monitoring Board (Panwaslu). And thank you to the police, who worked round the clock to deliver us a safe, orderly and peaceful elections.

Insyah Allah, and with great humility, I will carry this precious mandate from the people with the greatest sense of responsibility and care. I will carry on with the task of running the affairs of the state. I ask for the Indonesian people to support me and join me in this endeavour.

Now that the elections is behind us, I appeal to alt Indonesians to stop looking backward, and to start look forward. Now is the time, more than ever, for us to strengthen our brotherhood and unity. For those who voted for the other candidate, I wish to say that such is the reality of democracy. There is a time to compete, there is a time to unite. I promise to be a President for all Indonesians, to give my best to all Indonesians, and to stand above all.

In the short term, I will focus on 3 agendas. First, is to ensure a smooth transition and transfer of government. There is an absolute need for communication and coordination. There should be no gap of Governance between the Government of President Megawati and my Government which will succeed her on October 20th. Certainly, we need to ensure that the tasks of day-to-day Government are running smoothly and are not neglected.

The second task relates to the formation of the Cabinet for 2004-2009. Here, I will, focus on designing the structures of Government and along with the task descriptions. I will formulate the agenda and priorities of the cabinet. I will set down the rules of the game and ethics that should be observed by Government members. I will start to look at Ministers candidates, including communicating with them for the selection of prospective Cabinet members. And I will finalize the Cabinet formation and announce it on October 20th 2004.

The third agenda is to set a Program of Action for my Government for the first 100 days. I wilt work early on with various state institutions. We will conduct a thorough review of the state budget for 2005. We will review the progress in law enforcement efforts, especially in fighting corruption. We will immediately take steps to tackle the task of solving regional conflicts. We will start an active drive against corruption. We wilt undertake immediate measures to stimulate the economy. And we will lay the foundation for an effective national education policy.

Our nation today is standing on the brink of a new era in our history. This new era contains great promises, but also serious challenges. We must be ready for them. And we meet this call of history. Let us unite to work together for a better Indonesia.

Cikeas, Oct 9th, 2004
Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono