Demokrasi era suharto biography

The role of the central government was to be confined to matters connected to defense, foreign policy, fiscal-monetary and macroeconomic policy, justice and religion. Not less important was that the regions would receive a larger share of revenues from the regional production of natural resources. Previously, regions had always felt uncomfortable seeing the majority of earnings from local natural resources flow to stakeholders in the capital city of Jakarta. However, since not every region in Indonesia is blessed with abundant natural resources, it increased the gap between richer and poorer regions.

Along with power, corruption was decentralized to the regional level as well where so-called "shadow states" emerged in which the regional elite is in control of power, business and money flows. One of the victims of this new era is the environment. In exchange for large sums of money, logging and mining permits were granted on a large scale by local authorities (especially on resource-rich islands Sumatra and Kalimantan), usually without proper monitoring or administration. Today, nearly 20 years later the consequences are still being felt as there is often unclarity about the size of concession areas due to weak governance in the Post-Suharto era.

The process of decentralization was also accompanied by regional violence entrenched with ethnic or religious aspects because of the emergence of competition for local political positions in conjunction with a revival of regional identities. For more information on this topic, visit the Ethnic and Religious Violence section.

The Bacharuddin Habibie Administration (1998-1999)

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, vice president during Suharto's last presidential term, replaced Suharto in 1998 when the latter stepped down from the presidency. But this did not mean an end to the political system that had been applied during the New Order. Many Indonesians were highly suspicious of Habibie because of his closeness to Suharto (wh

President of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998

In this Indonesian name, there is no family name nor a patronymic.

Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian military officer and politician, who served as the second and longest serving president of Indonesia.

Suharto's presidency and legacy are highly divisive. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia as an authoritarian regime from 1967 until his resignation in 1998 following nationwide unrest. His 31-year rule over Indonesia is considered one of the most controversial in the 20th century due to allegations of corruption and his government's central role to the perpetration of mass killings against communists early in his rule and subsequent discrimination of ethnic Chinese Indonesians, irreligious people, and trade unionists. However, he has been praised for making Indonesia into an economic success story, bringing stability to the region particularly during the Cold War period, and led Indonesia when it played a significant role in international affairs.

Suharto was born in Kemusuk, near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation, Suharto served in the Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly formed Indonesian Army and rose to the rank of major general some time after full Indonesian independence was achieved. An attempted coup on 30 September and 1 October 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. The army subsequently led a nationwide violent anti-communist purge and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Suk

Time of transition to the New Order

The acting presidency of Suharto followed the transition to the New Order in which Army General Suharto assumed presidential powers to "restore" law and order following the now-disputed attempted coup which led to anti-communist purges. The term lasted from 12 March 1967 until 27 March 1968, when Suharto was officially inaugurated as the second president of Indonesia.

By February 1967, President Sukarno, realizing that his political career was at an end, became concerned at cutting his losses. On 7 February, he sent a letter to Suharto saying that he was willing to hand over the running of the government to the general but also added that he would like to continue on as head of state. In the time between the arrival of that letter and the formulation of the reply, the People's Representative Council (DPR) passed a resolution which called for a special session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS). Suharto, accompanied by the commanders of the navy, air force, and police, met with Sukarno on 11 February to reject his offer and to wait instead for the result of the MPRS special session.

On 20 February 1967, Sukarno chose to relinquish all executive power to Suharto whilst still retaining his position as president. Sukarno's decision did not stop the DPR from insisting that the MPRS special session go ahead. Originally calling for an MPRS special session to be held for the purpose of reviewing Sukarno's performance as well as reaching a final decision on whether or not he was involved with the 30 September Movement (G30S), the DPR now asked that the MPRS special session add Suharto's appointment as acting president to the agenda.

The special session was opened on 7 March 1967, located in present-day Istora Gelora Bung Karno. On that day, Suharto delivered a speech absolving Sukarno of any involvement with the G30S. Th

Together these four sides were highly distrustful towards each other, culminating in the tragedies of the mid 1960s when a group of leftist officers, allegedly influenced by the communist PKI party, committed a pre-emptive coup against seven top army officers who, allegedly, wanted to topple president Soekarno. Suharto, a high officer who took control over the army during these chaotic days, blamed the coup on the PKI and in the following months hundreds of thousands of communists were slaughtered on Sumatra, Java and Bali. Although much of the facts will remain unknown, it became clear that General Suharto emerged as the strong power out of the chaos in the mid-1960s.

The Transfer of Power; the Old Order Becomes the New Order

On 11 March 1966 Indonesia was still in a state of total shock and chaos. On that particular day president Soekarno was pressured into signing a decree in which army officer Suharto received full power to guarantee security, calm and stability in the country. This decree became known as the Supersemar document and meant the effective transfer of executive power from Soekarno to Suharto. Suharto then quickly banned the communist PKI party, started cleansing the army from leftist elements and began to expand the political role of the army in Indonesian society.

Although still president, Soekarno's powers were reduced more and more until Suharto was formally named acting president in 1967 and inducted as Indonesia's second president in 1968. This marked the emergence of a new era which was called the 'New Order'. Policies quickly changed a rather rigorous course from the start of Suharto's New Order. Emphasis of the new government was put on economic development. Ties with the West, broken by Soekarno, were restored which enabled the flow of much needed foreign aid to reach Indonesia. Prudent fiscal management was introduced by the economic technocrats and the hostile and costly confrontation politics towards Malaysia were stoppe