were contested by two parties: United Development Party (PPP) and Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI); as well as Golkar. All elections in this period were won by Golkar. On every March after the legislative election, the MPR would hold General Sessions (Sidang Umum MPR) in which included the election of President and soon after, the Vice President; as mandated by the original constitution. On all occasions, Suharto was the only person ever stood as a presidential candidate, thus enabling him to be elected unanimously. On vice-presidential elections, all candidates endorsed by Golkar (and the military faction) went on to be elected unanimously. To ensure that Golkar always won more than 60% of the popular vote, the New Order regime used a number of tactics. These included: Reducing the number of opponents: In 1973, the existing political parties were forced to merge into either PPP or PDI. These were the only parties allowed to contest general elections. Weakening the remaining opponents: The two political parties were forbidden to criticise government policy, and the government had to approve all slogans they used. Furthermore, they were not allowed to organise at the village level (where the majority of Indonesians live). To stop the rise of charismatic figures, their candidates had to be vetted by the government. When a potentially charismatic figure (in the form of founding president Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri) became a leader of the PDI, the government engineered a political convention in Medan in 1996 to remove her. Ironically, the ensuing disturbances at the PDI's Jakarta headquarters began a chain of events that indirectly led to the downfall of the New Order. Coercion to vote Golkar: Civil servants were ordered to support Golkar, or face accusations of insubordination. Private sector workers were reminded of the need for "stability". Many people believed the vote was not secret, and the government did little to persuade them otherwise. Many voters were still at school, and they were warned by teachers of a link between their choice at the ballot box and exam success The vote-counting process: The Golkar votes were counted first, then those of the two other parties. In the 1997 election, by 9 p.m. on the day after voting, Golkar had already been awarded 94% of its eventual vote. By contrast, the PPP had been credited with less than 10% of its final tally. Vote-rigging: Although the counting at the local ballot boxes