Andrew Burrell – Remember these initials: SBY. They belong to Indonesia's new presidential frontrunner, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose prospects were boosted even further by his fledgling party's astonishing performance in Monday's parliamentary elections.
"These results are very positive, but I must wait until the official results are released," he told The Australian Financial Review in his typically cautious manner, as early counting suggested his Democrat Party had emerged as a new political force.
When asked, however, about his bid for the presidency at separate elections in July, Yudhoyono was far more confident. If he were elected president, he said, he would move immediately to create jobs, reduce poverty, rebuild Indonesia's crumbling infrastructure and continue to fight terrorism.
"I am very determined to run for the presidency. I have the experience in solving many problems in this country," he said at his home in Bogor, south of Jakarta.
"I was a member of the cabinet for 4 years and I have solved problems such as combating terrorism, dealing with separatism and maintaining law and order.
"I give my promise to the people that I will work hard for our better future, for a more stable and peaceful Indonesia, for a more just and democratic Indonesia."
Yudhoyono said he was prepared to contest the presidency as part of a coalition with another party or parties. But he said if his Democrat Party "achieved a significant outcome", such as winning more than 10 per cent of the total votes, he would likely run for president on the party's own ticket.
It has been a career-defining week for SBY, a retired general with a reputation as a statesman, a nationalist and a reformer with an intellectual bent. Two credible surveys have shown he has replaced President Megawati Soekarnoputri as Indonesia's most popular political figure, ahead of presidential elections in July.
Yudhoyono resigned as chief security minister on the day the election campaign started last month after a public spat with Megawati, a decision that in hindsight appears to be a masterstroke. Freed from his cabinet duties, he was able to embark immediately on a strong nationwide campaign to boost his already surging popularity and tap into the electorate's wide resentment at old-style corrupt politics.
SBY held out for months from resigning his post, which appeared at the time to confirm his reputation for Javanese caution and indecision. But in the end, he benefited from waiting so long. By hedging for months on whether he really coveted the top job he was able to avoid appearing overly ambitious or disloyal to his boss, Megawati, traits that are frowned upon in Javanese culture.
As a result, most Indonesians believe he resigned because his hand had been forced by a president they regard as increasingly out of touch, and who has presided over endemic corruption and growing unemployment.
SBY is widely seen as an honest politician whose military background and democratic credentials would restore strong leadership to Indonesia without having to revert to the authoritarianism of the Soeharto era.
He is also highly respected and liked by Australian officials because, amid some resistance within the Cabinet, he successfully spearheaded Indonesia's anti-terrorism fight after the Bali bombings 18 months ago.
Yudhoyono is perhaps best remembered by Australians for the extraordinarily heartfelt speech he delivered at the commemoration service in Bali for the one-year anniversary of the bombings.
Yudhoyono moved many to tears with an oration that contrasted with Australian Prime Minister John Howard's lacklustre effort at the same ceremony.
"They were our sons, our daughters, our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our best friends and our soul mates," he said of the 202 people killed in the terrorist attacks. "And they were all innocents."
But let's not completely canonise SBY. Before formally entering politics he was essentially a New Order military figure who held key positions during some of the more unsavoury episodes of that time, and after Soeharto's fall.
He is also believed to have played a role in planning the infamous 1996 military-backed crackdown on Megawati's opposition party headquarters in Jakarta, in which at least five of her supporters were killed and 23 went missing. And he served as the military's key policy maker while the Indonesian military oversaw a ferocious killing spree in East Timor in 1999.
Then last year, as Megawati's chief minister for security, he helped plan the military's brutal assault against separatists in Aceh, a futile war that is still raging almost 12 months later. To his credit, SBY led efforts for months to negotiate with the separatist rebels in a bid to to avoid full-scale conflict, but he then oversaw the launch of the Aceh offensive without an exit strategy.
Yudhoyono told The AFR he was committed to further military reform, promising to continue to disengage the military from politics after it lost its automatic right to seats at Monday's election. "The military must go back to its main function of a defence role," he said.