Reformasi era

Suharto fell from power in May 1998 and the Presidency experienced changes that was brought forth by Reformasi (engl.: reform). Compared to Suharto, who had all of his accountability speeches accepted, BJ Habibie had his only accountability speech rejected. Abdurrahman Wahid then became the first President who had to beat another candidate to be elected, as Sukarno and Suharto had been sole candidates. As a result of this, Wahid was also the first President to be elected through counting votes instead of by acclamation. On the other side of the coin, Wahid ended his Presidency by being impeached by the MPR, a clear sign that the presidency is now subservient to the MPR.
During the 2001 MPR Annual Session, it was finally decided that from 2004 onwards, the President will directly be elected by the people. In 2004 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became Indonesia's first directly elected President.