JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Retired army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came out as the foremost front runner in the July 5 presidential elections ahead of four other rivals, but he must face incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri in a runoff on Sept. 20.

    Yudhoyono won some 33 percent of the votes in the election but the Constitution rules that an elect-president must win an outright majority, otherwise a runoff will be held between two front runners.

    Born on Sept. 9, 1949, Yudhoyono is the only child of a retiredarmy lieutenant and spent his youth in the East Java town of Pacitan.

    His bright military career began in 1973, when he was named thebest graduate of the national military academy and former President Soeharto himself put the insignia on his uniform..

    He rose through the ranks and became the chief of territorial affairs in 1999, one year after Indonesia saw a major political transition with the downfall of Soeharto.

    He left the army in 2000 to join the Abdurrahman Wahid administration as a minister of mines and energy. In the same year,the Indonesian Military gave him the four-star general status as an honorary award.

    Wahid then promoted Yudhoyono as the coordinating minister for political and security affairs. But in 2001, when the president was facing impeachment from the People's Consultative Assembly, Yudhoyono was fired for refusing to declare a state of emergency which could become a pretext for Wahid to disband the parliament.

    In August 2001, Yudhoyono regained his post after then Vice President Megawati replaced the impeached Wahid.

    He frequently appeared on TV screens and newspaper headlines after the deadly Bali bombing in October 2002. He became the central figure behind the adoption of the country's first anti-terrorism law and the decision to launch offensive to end decades-long rebellion in Aceh province. He started to become a respected public figure.

    On March 11, however, Yudhoyono resigned from the senior political and security minister post after a blazing row with Megawati and her husband.

    Yudhoyono said he had been sidelined from the cabinet and rarely invited in cabinet meetings concerning political and security affairs while the political climate was heating ahead of the legislative and presidential elections.

    Local news reports said Yudhoyono was sidelined from the cabinetfor his presidential nomination without first asking for Megawati's permit.

    The conflict was exacerbated by first gentleman Taufik Kiemas who called Yudhoyono as being "childish" for talking with the media about his row with the president.

    The tangible demonstration of mounting public support to Yudhoyono came during the April 5 legislative election, which saw his Democratic Party in its election debut ranked fifth out of 24 participating parties by winning 7.45 percent of popular votes and10 percent of seats in the 550-member House of Representatives.

    Yudhoyono soon became a serious contender in the presidential election, primarily after he teamed up with former Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who once was among the presidential hopefuls of largest party Golkar.

    Yudhoyono is known with his firm stance against terrorism and speaks many times about the importance of the adoption of anti-terror measures.

    "Terrorism will remain a serious threat in the future, therefore, close coordination among security authorities, including intelligence agencies, must be made effective," he was quoted by The Jakarta Post newspaper in a recent dialogue attendedalso by Megawati.

    "We will develop a local security system with the people playing a role as eyes and the ears for security authorities," he said.

    The latest opinion poll organized by the Washington-based pollster International Foundation for Election Systems said that 61.2 percent of respondents would vote for Susilo in the runoff, against Megawati who was favored by only 29.3 percent of the respondents.

    The Jakarta-based Indonesia Survey Institute also predicted a landslide victory for Yudhoyono, saying that 61.3 percent of 1,200respondents in all 32 provinces favored Susilo, as against 32.7 percent who would vote for Megawati. Enditem