Fall Of Suharto
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Suharto resigned as
President of Indonesia The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and i ...
on 21 May 1998 following the collapse of support for his 32-year long presidency. Vice President
B. J. Habibie Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
took over the presidency. Suharto's grip on power weakened following severe economic and political crises stemming from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The economy suffered a flight of foreign capital, leading to a drastic drop in the value of the Indonesian rupiah, which severely impacted the economy and people's livelihoods. Suharto was re-elected to his seventh term by the People's Consultative Assembly in March 1998. Increasing political unrest and violence undermined his previously firm political and military support, leading to his May 1998 resignation. Initially under newly installed President Habibie, a period of political reform (" Reformasi") followed.


Historical background


Dissent during the New Order

Having consolidated the power in 1967 in the aftermath of the attempted coup in 1965 which was launched by middle-ranking officers in the Indonesian army and air force but officially blamed on the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) resulting in purges, the government of Suharto adopted policies that severely restricted civil liberties and instituted a system of rule that effectively split power between the
Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = ''Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...
organisation and the military. In 1970, price rises and corruption prompted student protests and an investigation by a government commission. Suharto responded by banning student protest, forcing the activists underground. Only token prosecution of cases recommended by the commission was pursued. The pattern of co-opting a few of his more powerful opponents while criminalising the rest became a hallmark of Suharto's rule. In order to maintain a veneer of democracy, Suharto made several electoral reforms. He stood for election before electoral college votes every five years, beginning in 1973. According to his electoral rules, however, only three entities were allowed to participate in the election: two political parties and Golkar. All the previously existing political parties were forced to be part of either the Islam-based
United Development Party The United Development Party ( id, Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, sometimes translated as Development Unity Party; abbreviated PPP) is an Islam-basedAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2013). ''Partai politik Islam: Teori dan praktik di Indonesia''. Yogyakarta: Grah ...
(PPP) or the nationalist Democratic Party of Indonesia (PDI).
Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = ''Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...
, being Suharto's primary political vehicle, was officially not a political party. All senior civil servants were obliged to join employee associations linked to Golkar, while senior bureaucrats were banned from joining political parties. In a political compromise with the powerful military, Suharto banned its members from voting in elections but set aside seats in the legislature for their representatives. As a result, he won every election in which he stood in 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1998. This authoritarianism became an issue in the 1980s. On 5 May 1980, a group called the Petition of Fifty (''Petisi 50'') demanded greater political freedoms and accused Suharto of misinterpreting the Pancasila state ideology. It was signed by former military men, politicians, academics and students. The Indonesian media suppressed the news, and the government placed restrictions on the signatories, some of whom were later jailed. Following the end to the Cold War, Western concern over communism waned, and Suharto's human rights record came under greater international scrutiny. In 1991, the murder of East Timorese civilians in a Dili cemetery, also known as the "Santa Cruz Massacre", caused US attention to focus on its military relations with the Suharto regime and the question of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. In 1992, this attention resulted in the
Congress of the United States The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Wash ...
passing limitations on
IMET International Military Education and Training (IMET) is the title of a United States security assistance program, a type of student exchange program. History Congress established the IMET program in the International Security Assistance and Arms ...
assistance to the Indonesian military, over the objections of US President George H. W. Bush. In 1993, under President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, the US delegation to the
United Nations Human Rights Commission The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...
helped pass a resolution expressing deep concern over Indonesian human rights violations in East Timor.


The first cracks emerge

In 1996, the
Indonesian Democratic Party The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) was one of the two state-approved parties during the New Order era of the late 20th-century in Indonesia. Origins Ten political parties participated in the 1971 legislative elections, a number that Pres ...
(PDI), a legal party that had been used by the New Order as a benign prop for the New Order's electoral system, began to assert its independence under Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding father, Sukarno. In response, Suharto attempted to foster a split over the leadership of the PDI, backing a co-opted faction loyal to deputy speaker of Parliament Suryadi against supporters of Megawati. After the Suryadi faction announced a party congress to sack Megawati would be held in
Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...
on 20–22 June, Megawati proclaimed that her supporters would hold demonstrations in protest. The Suryadi faction went through with the sacking, and the demonstrations manifested themselves throughout Indonesia. Megawati's supporters then took over the PDI headquarters in Jakarta. On Saturday 27 July, a mob including soldiers in civilian clothing and thugs from the army-associated
Pemuda Pancasila The Pancasila Youth ( id, Pemuda Pancasila, ''PP'') is an Indonesian far-right paramilitary organization established in 1959. The organisation's name refers to ''Pancasila'', the official "five principles" of the Indonesian state. Pemuda Panca ...
organization forcibly entered the building. According to the National Human Rights Commission, five people were killed, 149 injured and 74 missing – mostly from those arrested by the military. The attack was followed by two days of rioting, in which youths burned at least six buildings, including that of the Ministry of Agriculture. The political tensions in Jakarta were accompanied by anti-Chinese riots in
Situbondo Situbondo Regency is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in ...
(1996),
Tasikmalaya en, Neaty City , nickname = nl, Delhi Van Java en, Delhi of Java , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Great Mosque of Tasi ...
(1996),
Banjarmasin ) , translit_lang1 = Other , translit_lang1_type1 = Jawi , translit_lang1_info1 = بنجر ماسين , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Kayuh Baimbai'' ( Banjare ...
(1997), and Makassar (1997); while violent ethnic clashes broke out between the Dayak and Madurese settlers in
Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Tengah) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya and in 2010 its population was over 2.2 million, while the 20 ...
in 1997.


Fall of Suharto


Monetary and financial Crisis

In the second half of 1997, Indonesia became the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The economy suffered a flight of foreign capital leading to the Indonesian rupiah falling from Rp 2,600 per
dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, ...
in August 1997 to over Rp 14,800 per dollar by January 1998. Indonesian companies with US dollar-denominated borrowings struggled to service these debts with their rupiah earnings, and many went bankrupt. Efforts by
Bank Indonesia Bank Indonesia (BI) is the central bank of the Republic of Indonesia. It replaced in 1953 the Bank of Java ( nl, De Javasche Bank, DJB), which had been created in 1828 to serve the financial needs of the Dutch East Indies. History Bank of Ja ...
to defend its managed float regime by selling US dollars not only had little effect on the currency's decline, but also drained Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. Weaknesses in the Indonesian economy, including high levels of
debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
, inadequate financial management systems and
crony capitalism Crony capitalism, sometimes called cronyism, is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of free enterprise, but rather as a return on money amassed through collusion between a business class and the political class. This i ...
, were identified as underlying causes. Volatility in the
global financial system The global financial system is the worldwide framework of legal agreements, institutions, and both formal and informal economic actors that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investment and trade finan ...
and over-liberalization of international capital markets were also cited. The government responded by floating the currency, requesting
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
assistance, closing some banks and postponing major capital projects. In December 1997, Suharto for the first time did not attend an ASEAN presidents' summit, which was later revealed to be due to a minor stroke, creating speculation about his health and the immediate future of his presidency. In mid-December, as the crisis swept through Indonesia and an estimated $150 billion of capital was being withdrawn from the country, he appeared at a press conference to assure he was in charge and to urge people to trust the government and the collapsing rupiah. Suharto's attempts to re-instil confidence, such as ordering generals to personally reassure shoppers at markets and an "I Love the Rupiah" campaign, had little effect. Another plan was the setting up of a
currency board In public finance, a currency board is a monetary authority which is required to maintain a fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency. This policy objective requires the conventional objectives of a central bank to be subordinated to the exch ...
, proposed by the then special counselor
Steve Hanke Steve H. Hanke () is a professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a senior fellow and director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, DC, and co- ...
from
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
. The next day, the rupiah went up by 28% against the US dollar on both the spot and one year forward market, hearing the proposed plan. However, these developments infuriated the US government and the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF). Suharto was told – by both the
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, and the managing director of the IMF,
Michel Camdessus Michel Camdessus (born 1 May 1933) is a French economist who served as the seventh managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, the longest serving in that position. He previously served as the Governor of the Ban ...
– that he would have to drop the currency board idea or forego $43 billion in foreign assistance. Evidence suggested that Suharto's family and associates were being spared the most stringent requirements of the IMF reform process, and there was open conflict between economic technocrats implementing IMF plans and Suharto-related vested interests, further undermining confidence in the economy. The government's unrealistic 1998 budget and Suharto's announcement of Habibie as the next vice president both caused further currency instability. Suharto reluctantly agreed to a wider-reaching IMF package of structural reforms in January 1998 in exchange for $43 billion in liquidity (with a third letter of intent with the IMF being signed in April of that year). However, the rupiah dropped to a sixth of its pre-crisis value, and rumours and panic led to a run on stores and pushed up prices. In January 1998, the government was forced to provide emergency liquidity assistance (BLBI), issue blanket guarantees for bank deposits, and set up the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency The establishment of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) ( id, Badan Penyehatan Perbankan Nasional, BPPN), "National Banking Revitalization Agency") in early 1998 was one of a series of steps taken by the Indonesian government, in a ...
to take over management of troubled banks in order to prevent the collapse of the financial system. Based on the IMF recommendations, the government increased interest rates to 70% pa in February 1998 to control high inflation caused by the higher prices of imports. However, this action restricted the availability of credit to the corporate sector.


Unrest, violence, and riots

Despite the worsening economic situation, during the 1998 General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, Suharto was unanimously re-elected president, with
Try Sutrisno Try Sutrisno (; born 15 November 1935) is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the country's sixth vice president. He held the office from 11 March 1993 to 11 March 1998. Previously, he served as the Commander of th ...
being replaced by minister
B. J. Habibie Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
as
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
. Suharto's choice of Habibie was poorly received, causing the rupiah to continue its fall. All the while, he stacked the new
Seventh Development Cabinet The Seventh Development Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Pembangunan VII) was the Indonesian Cabinet which served under President Suharto and Vice President B. J. Habibie from 16 March 1998 to 21 May 1998. The Cabinet was formed in the midst of the Asian ...
with several of his own family and business associates. The government's increase of fuel prices by 70% in May triggered rioting in
Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...
,
North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...
. With Suharto increasingly seen as the source of the country's mounting economic and political crises, prominent political figures, including Muslim politician Amien Rais, spoke out against his presidency, and in January 1998, university students began organizing nationwide demonstrations. A demonstration at the
Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology ( id, Institut Teknologi Bandung, abbreviated as ITB) is a national research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Since its establishment in 1920, ITB has been consistently recognized as Indonesia's premi ...
saw 500 demonstrators, and by March, larger demonstrations had occurred at other universities. Including the
University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the D ...
and
Gadjah Mada University Gadjah Mada University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦓꦗꦃꦩꦢ; id, Universitas Gadjah Mada, abbreviated as UGM) is a Public university, public research university located in Sleman Regency, Sleman, Yogyakarta (special region) ...
. On 9 May 1998, a police officer, Dadang Rusmana, was reported to have been killed at a demonstration at Djuanda University. These demonstrators were protesting against massive price rises for fuel and energy, and were demanding that President Suharto step down. On 9 May, Suharto left Indonesia for a
Group of 15 The Group of 15 (G-15)Thofficial website adopts the "G-15" orthography (with a hyphen) in order to distinguish an abbreviated reference to this group -- contrasts with other similarly named entities. is an informal forum set up to foster coopera ...
summit in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Egypt. Meanwhile, at Jakarta's
Trisakti University Trisakti University (Usakti) is Indonesia's largest private university located in Jakarta, Indonesia. Trisakti University, is the only private university in Indonesia which was established by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. Found ...
, university students planned to march towards the Parliamentary Complex, but security forces refused to allow them to leave the campus of the university. Students then conducted a sit-in outside the gates of the campus, there men in
Mobile Brigade Corps The Mobile Brigade Corps ( id, Korps Brigade Mobil) abbreviated Brimob is the special operations, paramilitary, and tactical unit of the Indonesian National Police (Polri). It is one of the oldest existing units within Polri. Some of its main ...
uniforms appeared on the flyover overlooking Trisakti. They fired at the students, killing four (Elang Mulia Lesmana, Heri Hertanto, Hafidin Royan, and Hendriawan Sie), and injuring dozens more. The student's deaths sparked mass violence and riots throughout
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
the following day, forcing Suharto to return on 14 May. Despite Suharto's return, riots occurred throughout the city. In
Jatinegara Jatinegara (originally known as Meester Cornelis or Meester for short) is one of the districts (''Kecamatan'') of East Jakarta, Indonesia. The name also refers to the larger, historic area of the colonial town of Meester Cornelis. Established i ...
,
East Jakarta ) in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jatinegara railway station and Museum of Transportation at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. , image_seal = Lambang Kota Jakarta Timur.png , motto = , image_map ...
, a Matahari department store was barricaded and torched, killing around a thousand people. In
Glodok Glodok () is an urban village of Taman Sari, West Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is also known as Pecinan or Chinatown since the Dutch colonial era, and is considered the biggest in Indonesia. Majority of the traders and residents of Glodok are C ...
,
West Jakarta West Jakarta ( bew, Jakarte Bekulon; id, Jakarta Barat) is one of the five administrative cities of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. West Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified ...
, mobs attacked Jakarta's Chinatown, with store owners being forced to pay local thugs to protect them from violence. Riots also occurred near the port of
Tanjung Priok Tanjung Priok is a district of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbor, the Port of Tanjung Priok (located in Tanjung Priok District and Koja District). The district of Tanjung Priok is bounded by Laksaman ...
in Northern Jakarta, the city of
Tangerang Tangerang ( Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city ...
,
Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Ja ...
, and
Kebayoran Baru Kebayoran Baru is a district ( id, kecamatan) of South Jakarta, Indonesia. The name of the district was derived from an area which was developed in the post-war period as a new suburb town of Jakarta, Kebayoran Baru. Kebayoran Baru was the last re ...
in Southern Jakarta, with Chinese owned property being the main targets. Over a thousand and as many as five thousand people died during these riots in Jakarta and other cities such as Surakarta. Many victims died in burning malls and supermarkets, but some were shot or beaten to death. The riots destroyed thirteen
markets Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: * Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand * Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, a ...
, 2,479 shop-houses, 40
mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India ...
s, 1,604 shops, 45 garages, 383 private offices, nine petrol stations, eight
public bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...
es and
minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...
s, 1,119 cars, 821
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s, and 1,026
houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
. Indonesian Muslims who physically looked Chinese were attacked by rioters, despite not identifying as Chinese at all and only having one distant Chinese great grandfather. An Indonesian Muslim woman who had 5 sons, Ruminah, mentioned she had just one Chinese grandfather who married a local Muslim woman and she did not identify as Chinese at all or speak Chinese but she and her family were constantly harassed and hated by their neighbours just for their Chinese physical looks and her hair salon was ransacked and one of her sons died in a fire at the mall during the riots.


Military involvement in the riots

At the time, the Indonesian military had been split into two differing factions. The "red and white" nationalist faction led by Armed Forces commander General
Wiranto Wiranto (born 4 April 1947) is an Indonesian politician and former army general, who is serving as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, since December 2019. Previously, he was the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces from Feb ...
, and the "green" Islamist faction headed by
Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and former army lieutenant general who is the currently-appointed Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia. He is the son of Sumitro Djojoh ...
. Prabowo, who was the commander of
Kostrad The Army Strategic Reserves Command ( id, Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat; abbreviated ) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operati ...
(the strategic reserve, the division in which Suharto himself took power during the 1960's), was friends with
Muchdi Purwopranjono Muchdi Purwopranjono (born 15 April 1949) is an Indonesian politician and former major general who served briefly as chief of the Indonesian Army's Special forces of Indonesia, Special Forces (Kopassus) and was former deputy head of the Indonesian ...
, who ran the ''
Kopassus The Kopassus ( id, Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...
'' (special forces), and another, Syafrie Samsuddin, headed the Jakarta Regional Command. During the riots, both Muchdi and Syafrie failed to order their troops to quell the riots, and a report subsequently emerged that Syafrie had actually been in radio contact with the gangs terrorizing the city. It is possible that Prabowo hoped the riots would discredit his rival Wiranto and result in Suharto appointing Prabowo to head the armed forces. Meanwhile, other allegations surfaced of the military being actively involved with the riots. A security officer alleged that during the riots, ''
Kopassus The Kopassus ( id, Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...
'' (special forces) officers had ordered the burning down of a bank. A taxi driver reported hearing a man in a military helicopter encouraging people on the ground to carry out looting. Shop owners at a plaza claimed that before the riots, military officers tried to extract protection money. A teenager claimed he and thousands of others had been trained as protesters. A street child alleged that ''Kopassus'' officers ordered him and his friends to become rioters. There was a report of soldiers being dressed up as students and taking part in the rioting. Eyewitnesses spoke of the destruction being organized, with bands of men with short haircuts directing looters into shops, malls and banks, and of rioters being transported in military trucks. Rape victims testified that ethnic Chinese women were targeted, with assaults planned in advance.


Government response

The violence and riots which occurred throughout the country, drew the government's attention. On 6 May,
Wiranto Wiranto (born 4 April 1947) is an Indonesian politician and former army general, who is serving as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, since December 2019. Previously, he was the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces from Feb ...
, Prabowo's aforementioned rival, toured the affected areas, and helped restore calm to the streets. On 8 May, two days later, Prabowo himself, deployed one of his units "to support local troops and assured the public that others were ready to go into troubled areas should the need arise". However, neither efforts were able to fully contain the violence, as riots continued in
Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
, fueling speculation from the public that very few orders were carried out by the deployed units. Order was finally restored when regional military commander Yuzaini requested the help of community leaders and youth organizations to arrange for local patrols ('), to patrol with security forces. However, inaction on the government's part continued, with responses to the violence being inconsistent. In the northern area of Mangga Besar,
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, soldiers, allegedly stood by and allowed looters to walk away with stolen goods. While in
Slipi Palmerah is a subdistrict of West Jakarta, Indonesia. The Subdistrict is roughly bounded by Jakarta-Merak Tollway to the north, Batusari - Rawa Belong Road to the west, Palmerah Barat - Palmerah Utara Road to the south, and Aipda K. Sasuit Tubun R ...
,
West Jakarta West Jakarta ( bew, Jakarte Bekulon; id, Jakarta Barat) is one of the five administrative cities of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. West Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified ...
, soldiers reportedly risked their lives to protect civilians. In Surakarta (Solo), Armed Forces representative Colonel Sriyanto denied allegations of neglect, claiming that ground forces were limited and few due to units being transferred to Jakarta with only a few soldiers left to assist the police in controlling protesters at the
Muhammadiyah University Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longe ...
. For the most part, the military portrayed the violence "in terms of mobs gone mad, acting in an uncontrollable and spontaneous manner, outnumbering security forces".


Resignation of Suharto

Following the riots, on 18 May, Suharto loyalists and speaker of the
People's Representative Council The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
Harmoko Harmoko (7 February 1939 – 4 July 2021), colloquially referred to as Bung Harmoko, was an Indonesian politician and journalist who was active during the New Order era. He served as the Speaker of the People's Representative Council from 1997 ...
called for Suharto to step down from the presidency within five days, at a press conference. This was a great surprise to many, including to Suharto himself, and other loyalists of Suharto. Suharto himself saw Harmoko's request as a betrayal and loyalists referred to Harmoko as "Brutus", a reference to the Roman Senator
Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
, who killed his great-uncle
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
. Meanwhile, Amien Rais, leader of the Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah, declared he would organize a demonstration of a million supporters to call for Suharto's resignation. This was planned for 20 May, celebrated as Indonesia's National Awakening. On the evening of 18 May, influential Muslim intellectual
Nurcholish Madjid Nurcholish Madjid (March 17, 1939 – August 29, 2005), in Indonesia affectionately known as Cak Nur, was a prominent Indonesian Muslim intellectual. Early in his academic career, Nurcholish was a leader in various student organizations. He soon ...
, who had held various meetings with generals and civilians, met with Suharto. The meeting ended with Suharto telling Nurcholish of his intention to resign "as soon as possible" following a meeting with Muslim leaders. This two-hour meeting took place on the morning of 19 May. Afterwards, Suharto announced to the nation that he would reshuffle the cabinet and set up a reform committee to plan new elections. Following a warning from a Prabowo ally of possible bloodshed, Amien Rais called off the demonstration. On 20 May, there was a "massive show of force" from the military, with soldiers and armored vehicles on the streets of Jakarta. Prabowo wanted a robust response to the demonstrators, but Wiranto realized that the Suharto era was coming to an end and was more receptive to the students' demands. According to sources of ''
The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...
'', Wiranto visited Suharto at home and asked the president to resign. On the same day, some of Suharto's allies refused to serve in a new cabinet. Facing a threat of impeachment from Harmoko, and having received a letter from 14 cabinet members rejecting the formation of a new cabinet, Suharto decided to resign. At 9 a.m. on 21 May, Suharto made a short speech of resignation. He was immediately replaced by Vice President
B. J. Habibie Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
. Allegedly, late on the evening of 21 May, Prabowo arrived at the presidential palace and demanded that he be made the chief of the armed forces. Reportedly, Habibie escaped from the palace. The following day, Prabowo was sacked as head of Kostrad. Wiranto remained as chief of the armed forces, and his troops began removing the students from the parliament building.


Transcript


Post-Suharto era

Not so often reported was the silent departure of families and wealth from the country. The
emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
were not exclusively of Chinese descent, but also included wealthy natives (
pribumi Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, India ...
) and Suharto's cronies. The immediate destination was Singapore, where some stayed permanently while others moved on to Australia, the US and Canada. Many of these families returned when the political situation stabilised a few years later. Since the fall of the New Order, there has been a variety of state-sponsored initiatives to address the widespread abuses of human rights since the fall of Suharto. A report issued by the
International Center for Transitional Justice The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms. ICTJ officially ope ...
and the Indonesian Commission for Disappeared Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) concluded that, that "senior government officials consistently failed to achieve
truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
,
accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...
,
institutional reform Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...
and
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...
for the most severe crimes.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chandra, Siddharth and Douglas Kammen. (2002). "Generating Reforms and Reforming Generations: Military Politics in Indonesia's Transition to Democracy". ''
World Politics The terms "world politics" or "global politics" may refer to: *Geopolitics, the study of the effects of geography on politics and International Relations (IR) * Global politics, a discipline of political science which focuses on political globalizat ...
'', Vol. 55, No. 1. * Dijk, Kees van. 2001. ''A Country in Despair. Indonesia Between 1997 and 2000''.
KITLV The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies ( nl, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, lit = Royal Institute for the Linguistics, Geography and Ethnology, abbreviated: KITLV) at Leiden was founded ...
Press, Leiden, * Kammen, Douglas and Siddharth Chandra (1999). "A Tour of Duty: Changing Patterns of Military Politics in Indonesia in the 1990s". Ithaca, NY: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project Publication No. 75. * Pepinsky, Thomas B. (2009). ''Economic Crises and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes: Indonesia and Malaysia in Comparative Perspective''. Cambridge University Press,


External links


Suharto Taken Off Life Support!

Megawati




* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Of Suharto Post-Suharto era New Order (Indonesia)
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
20th-century revolutions Suharto
Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
Protests in Indonesia Articles containing video clips May 1998 events in Asia