From 20 to 21 October 1999, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the legislative branch of Indonesia, met to elect both the president and vice president of the country for the 1999–2004 term. The incumbent president, B. J. Habibie, had ascended after the resignation of longtime president Suharto in 1998, but declined to stand for a full term after his accountability speech was voted down. On 20 October, Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, was elected president and inaugurated on the same day. Wahid's opponent, Megawati Sukarnoputri was subsequently elected vice president the next day. The elections represented the first relatively democratic and peaceful transfer of power in the history of Indonesia. It was also the first presidential election decided by counting of votes.