Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was born in Tremas, a village in Arjosari,
Pacitan Regency,
East Java, to a lower-middle-class family and is the son of Raden Soekotjo and Siti Habibah.
[1]
His name is
Javanese, with
Sanskrit roots.
[2] Susilo comes from the words
su-, meaning
good[2] and
-sila, meaning
behaviour, conduct or moral.
[2] Bambang is a traditional boy name in Javanese, meaning
knight.
Yudhoyono comes from the words
yuddha -meaning
battle, fight; and
yana, meaning
journey.
[2] Thus his name roughly translates to
`well behaved knight`.
Yudhoyono had wanted to join the army since he was a child.
[3] In school, he developed a reputation as an academic achiever, excelling in writing poems, short stories, and play-acting
[citation needed]. Yudhoyono was also talented in music and sport, reflected when he and his friends established a volleyball club called
Klub Rajawali and a band called
Gaya Teruna.
[4]
When he was in fifth grade, Yudhoyono visited the Indonesian Armed
Forces Academy (AKABRI). After seeing the soldiers training there and
perhaps inspired by his own father's career, Yudhoyono became determined
to join
Indonesian Armed Forces
and become a soldier. Yudhoyono planned to enlist after graduating from
high school in 1968; however, he missed the registration period.
[3]
Yudhoyono then became a student at the
Tenth of November Institute of Technology before entering the Vocational Education Development Center in
Malang,
East Java. There, he was able to prepare everything for the next phase
of his education at Akabri. Yudhoyono officially entered AKABRI in 1970
after passing the test in
Bandung.
[3]
Military career
Cadet First Sergeant Major ("Sersan Mayor Satu Taruna") Yudhoyono, 1973.
Yudhoyono spent three years at Indonesian Armed Forces Academy
(AKABRI) and became the Commander of the Cadet Corps Division there. He
graduated from AKABRI as second lieutenant in 1973, and as the best
graduate of the year, received the prestigious Adhi Makayasa medal from
President
Suharto.
After graduating, Yudhoyono joined the
Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) and became a
platoon
commander in the 330th Airborne Battalion. Aside from leading his
troops, Yudhoyono was also tasked with giving the battalion soldiers
lessons on general knowledge and English. Yudhoyono's proficiency in
English was one of the reasons why he was sent to the United States to
undertake the
Airborne and
Ranger Courses at
Fort Benning in 1975.
Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia in 1976 where he became a platoon commander in the 305th Battalion and assigned to
Indonesian-occupied East Timor.
Yudhoyono had several tours of duty there and, like many other
Indonesian officers involved in the occupation of East Timor, was
accused of committing
war crimes. However, Yudhoyono has never been charged with any specific act. From East Timor, Yudhoyono became a
mortar
platoon commander in 1977, an operations officer for an airborne
brigade from 1977 to 1978, and a battalion commander at Kostrad from
1979 to 1981. Yudhoyono then spent 1981 and 1982 working at the Army
headquarters.
While working at the Army headquarters, Yudhoyono was sent to the United States again, this time to participate in the
Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning and in training with the
82nd Airborne Division. Yudhoyono also spent time in
Panama
and went through the jungle warfare school. When Yudhoyono returned in
1983, he was made Commander of the Infantry Trainers' School. It was not
long before he was abroad again, this time to
Belgium and
West Germany, to undertake the
Antitank weapons Course. In 1985, Yudhoyono also took a Battalion Commando Course in
Malaysia.
From 1986 to 1988, Yudhoyono served with the
Udayana Area Military Command, which covers
Bali and the
Lesser Sunda Islands.
Yudhoyono was a battalion commander from 1986 to 1988 and was part of
the operational staff in 1988. In 1989, Yudhoyono became a lecturer at
the Army Staff College (Seskoad) and delivered a presentation entitled
"ABRI's Professionalism at the Present and in the Future". Together with
Agus Wirahadikusumah, Yudhoyono published a book entitled "The Challenges of Development".
Whilst at Seskoad, Yudhoyono also took the opportunity to further his own military education. He went to the
US Army Command and General Staff College at
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While in the United States, he took the opportunity to obtain an MA degree in business management from
Webster University in 1991.
In 1992, Yudhoyono was transferred to the Army Information Department
and worked as a speech writer for General Edi Sudrajat, the Army Chief
of Staff. In 1993, when Edi became Commander of the
Military of Indonesia
(ABRI), Yudhoyono joined Edi's personal staff. Edi did not last long as
ABRI Commander and Yudhoyono was then transferred back to Kostrad where
he became a brigade commander. A year later, Yudhoyono was the
Operations Assistant at Jaya (Jakarta) Military Area Command before
taking command IV/Diponegoro Military Area Command in
Central Java. Yudhoyono had one more stint overseas when he became Indonesia's chief military observer of the
United Nation Peacekeeping Force in
Bosnia in 1995–96.
[5]
When Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia, he was made KODAM Jaya chief of
staff before being appointed as KODAM II/Sriwijaya commander. In this
position, Yudhoyono was responsible for military operations in southern
Sumatra.
[6]
He served in this position until 1997, when he was appointed chief of
staff for social-political affairs. At the same time, he was also
appointed Chairman of the ABRI Faction in the People's Consultative
Assembly General Session and participated in
Suharto's election to a seventh term as President.
During the days which would lead to
Suharto's resignation in May 1998, Yudhoyono and pro-reform ABRI officers conducted meetings and discussions with
Nurcholish Madjid,
a secular pro-reform Muslim leader. From his discussions, Yudhoyono
accepted the fact that Suharto should resign but like the ABRI officers
who went to the meeting with him, was reluctant to withdraw their
support of Suharto publicly, much less ask for Suharto's resignation.
[7] Nevertheless the pressure would eventually become too much for Suharto, who resigned on 21 May 1998.
As Indonesia entered the
reform era,
ABRI's popularity, because of its association with Suharto, was at an
all time low. To de-emphasize ABRI's political role, Yudhoyono's Chief
of Staff for social-political affairs was renamed chief of staff for
territorial affairs and in 1999, ABRI was renamed TNI and the
Indonesian National Police (Polri) was split off. At this time, Yudhoyono's popularity began to increase
[citation needed]
as he offered ideas and concepts to reform the military and nation. He
did this by combining the strong reformist sentiment of the time with
TNI's concern for security and stability.
[7] Yudhoyono then became known in the media as "the thinking general".
[citation needed]
Political career
Wahid Presidency
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]
Megawati Presidency
On 23 July 2001, in a Special Session, the MPR impeached Wahid and
replaced him with Megawati as President. A few days later when the MPR
assembled to elect a new Vice President, Yudhoyono threw his name in the
hat and competed against
Golkar's
Akbar Tanjung and
United Development Party's (PPP)
Hamzah Haz.
[10] Yudhoyono and Akbar lost out to Hamzah who became the vice president.
Yudhoyono was appointed to his old position of Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs in Megawati's
new cabinet. After the
October 2002 Bali bombing,
he oversaw the hunt for and arrest of those responsible, and gained a
reputation both in Indonesia and abroad as one of the few Indonesian
politicians serious about the
War on Terrorism.
His speech during the one year anniversary of the Bali bombing (in
which many Australians were killed) was praised by the Australian media
and public.
[11]
Yudhoyono also dealt with the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM), a separatist movement wanting to separate the Province of
Aceh from Indonesia. On his advice, Megawati declared
martial law in Aceh on 19 May 2003. This martial law was then extended in November 2003.
[12]
The Democratic Party
Yudhoyono's supporters saw Yudhoyono's participation in the vice
presidential election as a sign of his popularity and recognized
Yudhoyono's potential as a possible leader for Indonesia. One of these
supporters, Vence Rumangkang approached Yudhoyono with the idea of
forming a political party to help shore up support for the 2004
Presidential Elections. Yudhoyono approved of the idea and after going
through the basic concepts, left Rumangkang in charge of forming the
Party.
From 12–19 August 2001, Rumangkang began holding a series meetings to
discuss the formation of the party while holding consultations with
Yudhoyono. Yudhoyono personally led the meetings on 19 and 20 August
2001, and the basic outline of the
Democratic Party was finalized.
On 9 September 2001, the formation of the party was officially
declared and on 10 September it was registered at the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights.
The organizers behind Democratic Party's formation went to extreme
lengths to make sure that PD was Yudhoyono's personal political party.
The declaration of its formation was 9 September 2001, which was
Yudhoyono's birthday and to start off with, the Party had 99 members.
Road to Presidency
By 2003 there was a gathering momentum behind the possibility of Yudhoyono being a presidential candidate.
[13] The
United Democratic Nationhood Party
(PPDK) was the first to bring up the subject of nomination. In
September 2003, Yudhoyono's own party began to make preparations in case
Yudhoyono was willing to accept a presidential nomination. The
Democratic Party then initiated a publicity campaign to promote
Yudhoyono as a candidate. For his part, Yudhoyono was not responsive
both to PPDK or the Democratic Party's maneuverings to nominate him and
continued his duties as Minister. PPDK was disappointed in Yudhoyono's
reaction and the Democratic Party continued to wait for Yudhoyono to
resign his position as was expected of all presidential candidates apart
from the incumbent President and Vice President.
The turning point came on 1 March 2004, when Yudhoyono's secretary,
Sudi Silalahi announced to the media that for the last six months,
Yudhoyono had been excluded from policy decision-making in the field of
politics and security.
[14] On 2 March 2004, Megawati responded that she had never excluded Yudhoyono, while her husband,
Taufiq Kiemas
called Yudhoyono childish for complaining to the media instead of the
president herself. On 8 March 2004, Yudhoyono sent a letter asking for
permission to meet the president about his ministerial authority.
Megawati did not respond when she received the letter, although she
invited Yudhoyono along to a cabinet meeting on 11 March 2004. Yudhoyono
did not attend the cabinet meeting and instead held a press conference
at his office and announced his resignation from the position of
Coordinating Minister of Political and security affairs. He also
announced that he was ready to be nominated as a presidential candidate.
Yudhoyono in United Nations.
Yudhoyono's popularity skyrocketed after his falling out with Megawati as he was seen by the people as the
underdog. However this popularity did not translate to a victory for the Democratic Party at the
2004 legislative elections.
The party won 7.5% of the votes, which was still enough to nominate
Yudhoyono as a presidential candidate. Yudhoyono accepted the nomination
and picked
Golkar's Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. Aside from the Democratic Party, their presidential and vice presidential candidacy was supported by the
Crescent Star Party (PBB), the
Reform Star Party (PBR) and the
Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI).
[15]
Yudhoyono's
manifesto
for the future of Indonesia, summarised in a book titled "Vision For
Change" written by him and distributed for free during the campaign, was
built on four pillars: prosperity, peace, justice and democracy. At the
top of his agenda was a plan for increasing economic prosperity, aiming
for economic growth of at least 7% and a revival of small and
medium-sized enterprises. He also put forward policies to offer better
credit lines, to cut red tape, improve labor laws and to root out
corruption from the top down. He told an interviewer:
| “ |
If we
are to reduce poverty, create jobs, increase purchasing power and
rebuild infrastructure, then we will need new capital. Of course, to be
able to invite investment, I have to improve the climate – legal
certainties, political stability, law and order, sound tax policies,
customs policies, good labor management. I will improve the guarantees
to encourage investors to come to Indonesia. |
” |
Yudhoyono's perceived communication skills made him the front-runner
throughout the election campaign, according to many opinion polls and
the opinions of election commentators,
[16] ahead of the other candidates (Megawati, Wiranto,
Amien Rais, and Hamzah). On 5 July 2004, Yudhoyono participated in the first round of the
presidential election,
coming first with 33% of the votes. However, 50% of votes were required
for a new president and vice-president to be elected, and this meant
Yudhoyono going into a run-off against Megawati.
In the run-off, Yudhoyono faced a challenge from Megawati's
Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), forming a national coalition with Golkar, the PPP,
Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and the
Indonesian National Party (PNI). Yudhoyono then declared that his coalition, which now received political support from the
National Awakening Party (PKB), the
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the
National Mandate Party
(PAN), would be the people's coalition. On 20 September 2004, Yudhoyono
participated in the run-off election, winning it with 60.87% of the
vote. Yudhoyono was inaugurated as president on 20 October 2004. In
February 2010, SBY was named as the political figure who had achieved
The Gold Standard in Political Communications by the influential PublicAffairsAsia network and magazine.
Presidency: 2004–present
Cabinet
The day of his inauguration in 2004, Yudhoyono announced his new cabinet, which would be known as the
United Indonesia Cabinet (
Kabinet Indonesia Bersatu).
Consisting of 36 ministers, it included members of the Democratic
Party, Golkar and the PPP, PBB, PKB, PAN, PKP, and PKS. Professionals
were also named in the cabinet, most of them taking on ministries in the
economic field. The
military
were also included, with five former members appointed to the cabinet.
As per Yudhoyono's promise during the election, four of the cabinet
appointees were female.
[17]
Yudhoyono's
Second United Indonesia Cabinet
was announced in October 2009 after he was reelected as president
earlier in the year. The vice president in Yudhoyono's second cabinet is
Dr
Boediono. Boediono replaces
Jusuf Kalla who was vice president in the first Yudhoyono cabinet.
Economy
In late 2007, Yudhoyono led Indonesia into a
free trade agreement with Japan.
[18]
Education and health
In July 2005, Yudhoyono launched the Schools Operational Assistance (BOS) program.
[19]
Under this arrangement, the government gives money to principals to
financially assist in the running of schools. Should BOS be able to
provide significant financial assistance to the school then the school
is expected to lower fees or, if they are able to, to abolish fees
altogether. In June 2006, Yudhoyono launched Books BOS which provides
funds for the purchase of textbooks.
[20]
In January 2005, Yudhoyono launched the Poor Community Health
Insurance (Askeskin). Askeskin is a program directed at poor people
which allows them access to healthcare.
[21]
Balance of power with Vice President Kalla
Although he had won the Presidency, Yudhoyono was still weak in the Indonesian parliament, the
People's Representative Council
(DPR). The Democratic Party, even combined with all of its coalition
partners, had far fewer representatives than Golkar and the PDI-P, which
played the role of opposition.
With a national congress to be held in December 2004, Yudhoyono and
Kalla had originally backed Agung Laksono speaker to become Golkar
chairman. When Agung was perceived to be too weak to run against Akbar,
Yudhoyono and Kalla threw their weight behind Surya Paloh. Finally, when
Paloh was perceived to be too weak to run against Akbar, Yudhoyono gave
the green light for Kalla to run for the Golkar Chairmanship.
[22] On 19 December 2004, Kalla was elected as the new chairman of Golkar.
Kalla's victory posed a dilemma for Yudhoyono. Although it now
enabled Yudhoyono to pass legislation, Kalla's new position meant that
he was now more powerful than Yudhoyono in terms of influence in
parliament.
After the
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Kalla, apparently on his own initiative, assembled Ministers and signed
a Vice Presidential decree ordering work to begin on rehabilitating
Aceh. The legality of his Vice Presidential decree was questioned
[23] although Yudhoyono maintained that it was he who gave the orders for Kalla to proceed.
In September 2005, when Yudhoyono went to New York to attend the
annual United Nations Summit, he left Vice President Kalla in charge.
Yudhoyono held a
video conference from New York to receive reports from ministers. Critics suggest that this was an expression of distrust by Yudhoyono.
[24]
The suggestion seemed to gain momentum when Kalla only showed up for
one video conference and then spent the rest of the time taking care of
Golkar matters.
The alleged rivalry resurfaced again in October 2006 when Yudhoyono
established the Presidential Work Unit for the Organization of Reform
Program (UKP3R). He tasked it with improving the conditions for business
investment, executing government diplomacy and administration,
improving the performance of the state-owned enterprises, expanding the
role of small and medium businesses, and improving law enforcement as a
whole.
[25] The UKP3R was headed by Marsillam Simanjuntak, who served as Attorney General during the Wahid Presidency.
In February 2007, Yudhoyono added welfare to UKP3R's tasks by
ordering them to also put focus on the abolition of poverty, the direct
cash assistance, public service as well as assisting programs in health
and education
[26]
There were accusations that this was an attempt by Yudhoyono to exclude
Kalla from government. Yudhoyono was quick to clarify that in
supervising UKP3R, he would be assisted by Kalla.
[27]
Dealings with Suharto
On 6 May 2005, Yudhoyono visited Suharto at hospital when the latter
suffered from intestinal bleeding. On 5 January 2007, Yudhoyono and his
wife visited Suharto, who was again hospitalized due to anaemia as well
as heart and kidney problems.
[28][29] After the visit, Yudhoyono made an appeal to all Indonesians to pray for Suharto's recovery.
[30]
Responding to some publicly-made requests to Yudhoyono to granting a
pardon for all Suharto's possible past mistakes in governing the
country, presidential spokesperson Andi Mallarangeng said, "A visit from
an incumbent [president] to a hospitalized former president is
something normal. However, this show of humanity and legal step are two
different things."
[31]
Other
Yudhoyono with US President
George W. Bush while attending APEC summit in 2004.
On 17 August 2007,
Indonesia by initiative of Yudhoyono in
Jakarta, proposed that eight nations, homes to some 80% of the world's tropical
rainforests join diplomatic ranks amid increasing concern over
global warming. Indonesia led the summit of eight countries (on 24 September in New York) –
Brazil, Cameroon,
Congo, Costa Rica,
Gabon, Indonesia,
Malaysia and
Papua New Guinea. On 3–15 December 2007, Indonesia hosted the 13th Conferences of the Parties (COP-13) under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in
Bali.
[32]
During the
Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, Yudhoyono stated that the Pope's comments were "unwise and inappropriate,"
[33]
but also that "Indonesian Muslims should have wisdom, patience, and
self-restraint to address this sensitive issue....We need them so that
harmony among people is not at stake."
[34]
Yudhoyono is one of the 100 World's Most Influential People in 2009 according to TIME Magazine.
[35]
During an official visit to Australia, 9–11 March 2010, he was appointed an Honorary Companion of the
Order of Australia (AC)
[36] and addressed
Australian Parliament, the first Indonesian head of state to do so.
[37]
Indonesian security forces claim to have uncovered a plot to murder
Yudhoyono. A purported strike was to occur 17 August 2010, on Indonesian
Independence Day.
[38]
In 2012, the UK based
Free West Papua Campaign issued an arrest warrant for SBY during his State visit to the UK from October to November that year.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/uk-papua-activists-post-reward-for-sbys-arrest/545275
Approximately 100 protesters confronted SBY and accused him of
orchestrating Genocide in the territory West Papua which has always had a
long
Independence Movement. (Human Rights Groups estimate that over 500,000 people have been killed by the Indonesian Military since 1961.
http://arrestpresidentsby.wordpress.com http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152299920615010&set=a.10151356775845010.836603.53611440009&type=1&theater
Yudhoyono was made an honorary
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) by HM Queen
Elizabeth II on 30 October 2012.
[39]
Political party
During his presidency, Yudhoyono further consolidated his position within the
Democratic Party. In May 2005, at PD's first National Congress, Yudhoyono was elected Chairman of the Executive Board (
Ketua Dewan Pembina).
[40] In this position, Yudhoyono has the highest authority, superseding that of chairman.
Education
Yudhoyono also studied in the United States, where he received his Masters degree in Management from
Webster University in 1991. He subsequently earned his PhD in
agricultural economics from the
Bogor Agricultural University on 3 October 2004, two days before his presidential victory was announced.
[41] His dissertation is entitled
"The
Rural and Agricultural Development as an Effort to Alleviate Poverty
and Unemployment: a political economic analysis of fiscal policy".
[citation needed]
He was also awarded with two honorary doctorates in 2005, respectively
in the field of law from his alma mater, Webster University, and in
political science from Thammasat University in Thailand.
[41]
Family
The Yudhoyonos in a family outing, from left: Annisa Larasati Pohan,
First Lady Ani Bambang, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, Agus Harimurti
Yudhoyono and President Yudhoyono.
The name
Yudhoyono is not an inherited surname;
most Javanese do not have surnames. Rather, he chose it for his military name-tag, and it is how he is referred to abroad.
[42][43][44] His children go by the name
Yudhoyono,
and in formal meetings and functions he is addressed as Dr Yudhoyono.
In Indonesia, he is referred to in some media as Susilo and is widely
known as "SBY".
Yudhoyono lives both in the Presidential
Merdeka Palace in
Jakarta and his family residence in Cikeas,
Bogor with his wife, Ani Bambang Yudhoyono. First Lady Ani Yudhoyono holds a political science degree from
Merdeka University, and was the first vice chairman of her husband's Democratic Party. She is the eldest child of
General (Ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, one of Indonesia's high-profile generals.
The family's eldest son,
Captain Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (born 1978), graduated from
Taruna Nusantara High School in 1997 and the Indonesian Military Academy in 2000 and is a holder of the
Adhi Makayasa Medal
like his father, continuing family tradition as the best graduate of
the Military Academy. In July 2006, Agus graduated from the Institute of
Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore with a masters degree in
strategic studies, and is currently studying at
Harvard University.
[45]
Yudhoyono gave a speech at Harvard Kennedy School in September 2009 and
joked that his son became "another Harvard student working for" him –
some of Yudhoyono's ministers and military generals also went to
Harvard.
[46] He is married to Annisa Larasati Pohan,
[47] a fashion model and the daughter of a former
Bank Indonesia vice-president. The couple's daughter and Yudhoyono's only grandchild, Almira Tunggadewi Yudhoyono, was born on 17 August 2008.
[48]
The family's younger son, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono (born 1982), received his bachelor degree in Economics from the
Curtin University of Technology, in
Perth, Western Australia
[41] and his Master Degree from the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore.
[49]
In the 2009 general election, Edhie was elected as member of Parliament
from the Democratic Party and currently sits as a member of
Parliament's Commission 1 dealing with international affairs.
[50]
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