(Redirected from Soeharto)
'Suharto'
GCB (born
June 8,
1921) is a former
Indonesian military and political leader. He served as a military officer in the
Indonesian National Revolution, but is better known as the long-reigning second
President of Indonesia, holding the office from 1967 to 1998.
Like many
Javanese, Suharto has
only one name. In contexts where his religion is being discussed he is sometimes called
Haji or el-Haj Mohammed Suharto, but this Islamic title is not part of his formal name or generally used. The spelling "Suharto" has been official in Indonesia since 1947 but the older spelling 'Soeharto' is still frequently used.
Suharto seized power from his predecessor, the first president of Indonesia
Sukarno, through a mixture of force and political maneuvering against the backdrop of foreign and domestic unrest. Over the three decades of his "''
Orde Baru''" (
New Order) regime, Suharto constructed a strong central government along
militarist lines. An ability to maintain stability and an avowedly
anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of several Western governments in the era of the
Cold War. For most of his three-decade rule, Indonesia experienced significant
economic growth and
industrialization.
[1] His rule, however, led to political purges and the deaths of millions of
Indonesian communists and Chinese-Indonesians,
[2] and enaction of
legislation outlawing communist parties and ethnic Chinese.
[3]
By the 1990s, his New Order administration's
authoritarian and increasingly
corrupt practices had become a source of much discontent. Suharto's almost unquestioned authority over Indonesian affairs slipped dramatically when the
Asian financial crisis lowered Indonesians'
standard of living and fractured his support among the nation's military, political and civil society institutions. After internal unrest, diplomatic isolation began to drain his support in the mid-to-late 1990s, Suharto was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 following
mass demonstrations.
After serving as the public face of Indonesia for over 30 years, Suharto now lives his post-presidential years in virtual seclusion. Attempts to try him on charges of
genocide have failed due to his failing health. His legacy remains hotly debated and contested both in Indonesia and in foreign-policy debates in the West.
Background & career
Suharto was born in the era of Dutch colonial control of Indonesia, in the hamlet of
Kemusuk, a part of the larger village of Godean, 15 kilometres west of
Yogyakarta, in central
Java. Escaping what was by many accounts a troubled childhood, he enrolled as a military officer in the Dutch military academy during a time when the East Indies became a centre of several armed conflicts, including
World War II and the
Indonesian National Revolution. Like many natives in the military, Suharto was forced to change allegiances several times, but his training enabled him to become an asset to the side he finally settled upon, that of the Indonesian Nationalists.
A troubled and mysterious childhood
The facts of the childhood and youth of Suharto, according to Western biographies, are steeped in both mystery and myth. Standard and apocryphal accounts of his early years and family life exist, many loaded with political meaning. Suharto's parents, his mother Sukirah and father Kertosudiro, were ethnic-
Javanese and
peasant class, living in an area without electricity or running water.
The early family life of Suharto is generally thought to have been unstable. His father Kertosudiro's marriage to Sukirah was his second; he already had two children from his previous marriage. Kertosudiro's marriage to Sukirah itself is believed to have ended in divorce early in Suharto's life, though exactly when is inconsistent - the account in Roeder's biography ''The Smiling General'' claims the divorce came within years of his birth; the account in Suharto's autobiography ''Pirakan'' states that it came within mere weeks.
The absence of official documentation and certain aspects of Suharto's early life that are inconsistent with that of a Javanese peasant (Suharto received, for example, an education fairly early on), has led to several rumors of Suharto being the illegitimate child of a well-off benefactor, which included a being the child of a
Yogyakarta aristocrat or well-off
Chinese Indonesian merchant. Western biographer
R.E. Elson believes that such rumors cannot be entirely ruled out, given that much of the information Suharto has given on his origins has been tinged with political meaning.
His parents divorced and re-married to new partners. Suharto was estranged from alternately each or both his parents for extended periods of time, being passed around several households for much of his early life. The marriage of his paternal aunt to a low-level Javanese official named Prawirowiharjo, who took to raising Suharto as his own, is believed by Elson (2001) to have provided both a father-figure and role model for Suharto, as well as a stable home in
Wuryantoro, from where he received much of his primary education.
As noted by Elson (2001) and others, Suharto's upbringing stood in contrast with that of leading Indonesian Nationalists such as Sukarno, in that he is believed to have had little interest in anti-colonialism, or political concerns beyond his immediate surroundings. He was also, unlike Sukarno and his circle, illiterate in
Dutch or other European languages. He would, however, learn Dutch upon his induction into the Dutch military in 1940.
[4]
Pre-Independence military career
After a brief stint in a clerical job at a bank (from which he was fired), followed by a spell of unemployment, Suharto joined the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in 1940, and studied in a Dutch-run
military academy in
Gombong near Yogyakarta. This unusual opportunity for an indigenous colonial subject came as a result of the
Netherlands' growing need for troops as
World War II widened and the threat of an invasion by
Imperial Japan grew more likely.
After graduation, Suharto was assigned to Battalion XIII at Rampal. His service there was unextraordinary, but for his contracting
malaria requiring hospitalization while on guard duty, and then gaining promotion to
sergeant.
[5]
The invasion of Imperial Japanese forces and subsequent surrender of the Dutch forces led to Suharto's desertion from the Dutch to the Japanese occupation force. He first joined the Japanese sponsored police force at the rank of ''keibuho'' (assistant inspector), where he claimed to have gained his first experience in the intelligence work so central to his presidency ("Criminal matters became a secondary problem," Suharto remarked, "what was most important were matters of a political kind").
[6]
Suharto shifted from police work toward the Japanese-sponsored militia, the Peta (Defenders of the Fatherland) in which Indonesians served as officers. In his training to serve at the rank of ''shodancho'' (platoon commander) he encountered a localized version of the Japanese ''
bushido'', or "way of the warrior" , used to indoctrinate troops. This training encouraged an anti-Dutch and pro-nationalist thought, although toward the aims of the Imperial Japanese militarists. The encounter with a nationalistic and militarist ideology is believed to have profoundly influenced Suharto's own way of thinking.
[7]
Service in the Indonesian National Revolution
The
Japanese surrender to the Allies in World War II brought forth the opportunity for the leaders of the Indonesian Nationalist cause
Sukarno and
Mohammad Hatta to hastily declare the complete independence of Indonesia and the beginning of the
Indonesian National Revolution. International recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty, however, would only come after armed action - a task at which Suharto would prove himself adept.
Expulsion of the Japanese
The Japanese surrender left Suharto in a position to create a name for himself as a part of the military effort to first expel the remaining Japanese forces, and to prepare nationalist forces for the Dutch attempt to retake their former colonial possessions in the archipelago. He became a deputy to
Umar Slamet in the service of the revolutionary government's People's Security Body (BKR).
Suharto claims to have led a number of attacks against remaining Japanese forces around Yogyakarta. The central role he commonly portrayed himself playing in his reminisces on the period during his presidency is debatable; however, it may be acknowledged that Suharto's familiarity with military functioning helped in the organization of the disparate independence forces into a unified fighting force. In the early years of the War, Suharto organized local armed forces into Battalion X of Regiment I; Suharto was promoted to the rank of Major and became Battalion X's leader.
[8]
Return of the Dutch
The arrival of the Allies, under a mandate to return the situation to the ''
status quo ante bellum'', quickly led to clashes between Suharto's Division X and returning Dutch forces, bolstered by
Gurkhas in the employ of Great Britain. Political differences within both the Allies and the civilian Nationalist forces caused the conflict to alternate in intensity from the end of 1945 into first months of 1946, as negotiations went on between the leaderships of the Indonesian Nationalists and the Dutch in between periods of fighting. In this muddle, Suharto led his troops toward halting an advance by the Dutch T ("Tiger") Brigade on
17 May 1946. It earned Suharto the respect of his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Sunarto Kusumodirjo, who invited him to draft the working guidelines for the Battle Leadership Headquarters (MPP), a body created to organize and unify the command structure of the Indonesian Nationalist forces.
[9]
The military forces of the still infant Republic of Indonesia were constantly restructuring. By August 1946, Suharto was head of the 22nd Regiment of Division III (the "
Diponegoro" Division) stationed in Yogyakarta. In late 1946 the Diponegoro Division became responsible for defense of the west and south-west of Yogyakarta from Dutch forces. Conditions at the time are reported in Dutch sources as miserable; Suharto himself is reported as assisting smuggling syndicates in the transport of
opium through the territory he controlled, in order to make income.
After a period of cooling down, the Dutch-Indonesian conflict flared up again in 1947 as the Dutch initiated the first of two
major military offensives to recapture Indonesia. Known as ''Operatie Product'', it severely demoralized Indonesian forces, but diplomatic action in the
United Nations granted a respite from the fighting in order to resume negotiation. In the meantime, Suharto was married to Siti Hartinah, a woman of a high class family that in the years of the revolution lost its prestige and income. Over the next 17 years the couple would have six children:
Siti Hardiyanti Hastuti (Tutut, born 1949),
Sigit Harjojudanto (born 1951),
Bambang Trihatmodjo (born 1953),
Siti Hediati (Titiek, born 1959),
Hutomo Mandala Putra (Tommy, born 1962), and
Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih (Mamiek, born 1964).
The Second Police Action, ''Operatie Kraai'' ("Operation Crow"), commenced in December 1948 and decimated much of the Indonesian fighting forces, resulting in the capture of Sukarno and Hatta, the civilian leadership of Indonesia. Suharto, for his part, took severe casualties as the Dutch invaded the area of Yogyakarta; the retreat was equally humiliating.
[10]
Guerrilla warfare and victory
It is widely believed that the humiliating nature of this defeat engrained a sense of guilt in Suharto, as well as a sense of obligation to avenge his honor. Suharto, and the aggrieved Indonesian armed forces, attempted to do this by means of
guerrilla warfare, using intelligence and supply networks established at the village level. During this time ambushes became a favored tactic; villagers were enlisted to attack Dutch patrols with weapons as primitive as bamboo spears. The desired effect was to remind the populace of the continuing resistance to Dutch rule. However, these attacks were largely ineffective and were often comparable to suicide.
Suharto's efforts to regain the national honor culminated in an attack on Dutch forces at Yogyakarta on
1 March 1949. Suharto would later embellish his role as the singular plotter; according to more objective sources, however, the nationalist Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX (who still remained in power), as well as the Panglima of the Third Division ordered the attack. General Nasution would recall, however, that Suharto took great care in preparing the "General Offensive" (
Indonesian" ''Serangan Umum'').
In a series of daring small-scale raids under cover of darkness and with the support of locals, Suharto's forces captured the city, holding it until noon. The attack yielded some ammunition and a few light arms; as
propaganda and
psychological warfare it had filled the desired effect, however - civilians sympathetic to the Nationalist cause within the city had been galvanized by the show of force, and internationally, the United Nations took notice, with the Security Council putting pressure on the Dutch to cease Police Action and to re-embark on negotiations. Suharto gained both national and international recognition of his abilities as a military planner.
The return of the Dutch to the negotiating table all but assured, Suharto took an active interest in the peace agreements, though they were much to his dissatisfaction.
[11]
Post-Independence military career
During the following years he served in the
Indonesian National Army, stationed primarily on
Java. In 1950, Colonel Suharto led the Garuda Brigade in suppressing a rebellion of largely
Ambonese colonial-trained supporters of the Dutch-established State of Eastern Indonesia and its federal entity the
United States of Indonesia; the rebellion was led by Andi Azis a former officer of the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL).
[12] During his one-year stay in Makassar, Suharto became acquianted with his neighbours the Habibie family, whose eldest son
BJ Habibie would later became Suharto's vice-president and went on to succeed him as President. In 1951, Suharto led his troops in a cautious blocking campaign against the Islamic-inspired rebellion of Battalion 426 in
Central Java before it was broken by the 'Banteng (Wild Buffalo) Raiders' led by
Achmad Yani.
[12] Between 1954 and 1959, Brigadier General Suharto served in the important position of commander of Diponegoro Division, responsible for Central Java and
Yogyakarta provinces. His relationship with prominent businessmen
Liem Sioe Liong and
Bob Hasan began in Central Java where he was involved in series of 'profit generating' enterprises conducted primarily to keep the poorly funded military unit functioning.
[12] Army anti-corruption investigations implicated Suharto in 1959 smuggling scandal. However, his military career was rescued by Gen. Gatot Subroto; instead of being brought before a court martial, he was transferred to the army Staff College in
Bandung,
West Java.
[12] In 1962 he was promoted to the rank of
major general and was appointed to lead the Mandala Command, a joint army-navy-air force umbrella command headquartered in Makassar, that organised the military campaign against the Dutch in
Netherlands New Guinea. After the surrender of the Dutch, Suharto was appointed commander of ''
Kostrad'' (Strategic Reserve), a sizeable army
combat force, which most importantly had significant presence in the
Jakarta area. By 1965, the armed forces split into two factions, one
left wing and one
right wing, with Suharto in the right-wing camp.
Overthrow of Sukarno (1965)
Main articles: Overthrow of Sukarno
On the morning of
October 1 1965, a group of
Sukarno's closest guards kidnapped and murdered six of the right-wing anti-Communist generals. Sukarno's guards claimed that they were trying to stop a
CIA-backed military coup which was planned to remove Sukarno from power on "Army Day",
October 5. Suharto, at the time a Major General, joined surviving right-wing General
Abdul Haris Nasution (once a Sukarno ally) in pointing the blame for the assassinations toward Sukarno loyalists and the Communist Party of Indonesia - a conspiracy they collectively dubbed the "30 September Movement" (
Indonesian: ''Gerakan 30 September Partai Komunis Indonesia''). The group's name was more commonly abbreviated G30S PKI, and propaganda would refer to the group by the epithet ''Gestapu'' (for its supposed similarity to the
Nazi secret police the
Gestapo).
Crisis and opportunity
Chaos and confusion surrounded the assassinations, but provided an opportunity for Suharto to rise within the army's ranks. At the time of the assassinations of the generals, Maj. Gen. Suharto and his Kostrad units were closest to the capital Jakarta; thus he became the field general in charge of prosecution of the alleged G30S forces. He gained further military powers through the intervention of the surviving right-wing Defense Minister and overall military Chief-of-Staff Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution, who forced President Sukarno to remove Maj. Gen. Pranoto Reksosamudra (seen as a leftist and Sukarno-loyalist) from the position of Army Chief-of-Staff, and to replace him with Maj. Gen. Suharto.
[16]
On
18 October, a declaration was read over the army-controlled radio stations, banning the Communist Party of Indonesia. The army, acting on orders by Suharto and supervised by Nasution, began a campaign of agitation and incitement to violence among Indonesian civilians aimed not only at Communists but the ethnic-Chinese community and toward President Sukarno himself.
[17] The resultant destabilization of the country left the Army the only force left to maintain order.
Power struggle
In the following months, as alleged Communists and Sukarno loyalists were killed and captured from the cities and villages, and liquidated from government, the
troika of Pres. Sukarno, Nasution, and Suharto jockeyed for power.
[18] Contemporary reports state that Sukarno was politically weak and desperate to keep power in the hands of his presidency by starting a factional struggle between Gen. Nasution and Suharto, while the two were absorbed in personal ambitions.
On
1 February,
1966, Pres. Sukarno promoted Suharto to the rank of Lieutenant General. The same month, Gen. Nasution had been forced out of his position of Defense Minister.
[19] The power contest had been boiled down to Suharto and Sukarno; with Sukarno in ill-health and politically isolated due to the removal of the PKI from the scene, Suharto had virtually assured himself the presidency.
Consequences
Both supporters and critics of Suharto acknowledge that the period of civil war was marked by human rights abuses, with estimated civilian casualties ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. Supporters of Suharto claim that these were justified due to the imminent threat of a PKI-led coup, citing the
1948 Madiun Affair, and that the Communist Party intended its peasant and workers' organizations to eventually become a fighting force.
Critics of Suharto claim that the PKI in 1965 had an inclination toward
Eurocommunism and had come to prefer parliamentary electoral politics to armed insurrection; the party placed third in the 1955 presidential election behind Sukarno's own Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI) and the Islamist party Masyumi. These critics allege that Suharto purposefully exaggerated PKI involvement in the assassinations of the generals, in order to justify the liquidation of this power bloc as well as to justify his repressive measures afterwards.
However brutal, Suharto's wresting of power away from the firebrand Sukarno brought a shift in policy that allowed for
USAID and other relief agencies to resume operations within the country. Suharto would open Indonesia's economy by divesting state owned companies, and Western nations in particular were encouraged to invest and take control of many of the mining and construction interests in Indonesia. The result was the alleviation of
famine conditions due to shortfalls in rice supply and Sukarno's reluctance to take Western aid, and stabilisation of the economy.
"New Order" Government (1967-1998)
''For more details on this topic, see
New Order (Indonesia)''
Suharto is appointed president of Indonesia at ceremony, March 1968. (Photo by the Department of Information, Indonesia)
On
March 11,
1966 the politically ailing Sukarno wrote a letter (the ''Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret'' or "
Supersemar") in which he declared a state of emergency and transferred most of his power to Suharto. Through this, Suharto established what he called the
New Order (''Orde Baru''). He permanently banned the Communist Party of Indonesia and its alleged front groups, purging the
parliament and cabinet of Sukarno loyalists, eliminating
labor unions and instituting press
censorship.
Internationally, Suharto put Indonesia on a course toward improved relations with Western nations, while ending its friendly relations with the
People's Republic of China. He dispatched his foreign minister,
Adam Malik to mend strained relations with the
United States,
United Nations, and
Malaysia and end the
Confrontation. Indonesia also became a founding member of
ASEAN.
Domestically, The New Order targeted ethnic Chinese and enacted several
anti-Chinese legislations, banning them from public life. Chinese literature and characters were outlawed, and they were forced to renounce their Chinese ties and adopt
Indonesian sounding names. Many Chinese were forced into exile, while others were killed during the anti-Communist purges.
Institutionalisation of the New Order
On
March 12 1967 Sukarno was stripped of his remaining power by Indonesia's provisional Parliament, led by Nasution. Suharto was named Acting President. On
March 21 1968 he was formally elected for the first of his five-year terms as President.
To maintain order, Suharto greatly expanded the funding and powers of the Indonesian state apparatus. He established two intelligence agencies—the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (KOPKAMTIB) and the State Intelligence Coordination Agency (BAKIN)—to deal with threats to the regime. Suharto also established the
Bureau of Logistics (BULOG) to distribute
rice and other staple commodities granted by
USAID. These new government bodies were put under the military regional command structure, that under Suharto was given a "dual function" as both a defense force and as civilian administrators.
On economic matters, President Suharto relied on a group of American-educated economists, nicknamed the "
Berkeley Mafia," to set policy. Soon after coming to power, he passed a number of reforms meant to establish Indonesia as a center of foreign investment. These included the privatization of its
natural resources to promote their exploitation by industrialized nations, labour laws favorable to multinational corporations, and soliciting funds for development from institutions including the
World Bank, Western banks, and friendly governments.
[20]
As virtually unchecked forces in Indonesian society under the New Order, however, members of the military and Golkar Party were heavily involved as intermediaries between businesses (foreign and domestic) and the Indonesian government. This led to bribery, racketeering, and embezzlement. Funds from these practices often flowed to foundations (''yayasan'') controlled by the Suharto family.
[21]
Political purges
Between 300,000 and one million Indonesians were killed in the mass-killings following the arrest of PKI members in Suharto's cabinet on
October 6,
1965. Both the military and auxilliaries from conservative Muslim, Catholic, Hindu and secular nationalist militias conducted the killings. Though most communists were identified by locals, the
CIA is known to have supplied the Indonesian military with a list of 10,000 suspected communists. Ironically, a CIA study of the events in Indonesia assessed that ''"In terms of the numbers killed the anti-PKI massacres in Indonesia rank as one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century.."''.
[22]
It must also be noted that, in addition to the CIA, British and Australian intelligence were well aware of events as they transpired.
Time Magazine presented the following account on
December 17,
1966 : ''"Communists, red sympathisers and their families are being massacred by the thousands. Backlands army units are reported to have executed thousands of communists after interrogation in remote jails. Armed with wide-bladed knives called parangs, Moslem bands crept at night into the homes of communists, killing entire families and burying their bodies in shallow graves."''
''"The murder campaign became so brazen in parts of rural East Java, that Moslem bands placed the heads of victims on poles and paraded them through villages. The killings have been on such a scale that the disposal of the corpses has created a serious sanitation problem in East Java and Northern Sumatra where the humid air bears the reek of decaying flesh. Travellers from those areas tell of small rivers and streams that have been literally clogged with bodies."''
Amongst the worst affected areas was the island of
Bali, where PKI had grown rapidly prior to the crackdown. On
November 11 clashes erupt between PKI and
PNI, ending in massacres of PKI accused members and sympathizers. Whereas much of the anti-PKI pogroms in the rest of the country were carried out by Islamic political organizations in the name of ''jihad'', the killings in Bali were done in the name of
Hinduism. Bali stood out as the only place in the country where local soldiers in some way intervened to lessen the slaughter.
In December the military proclaimed that
Aceh had been cleared of communists. Simultaneously, Special Military Courts were set up to try jail PKI members. On
March 12, the party was formally banned by Suharto, and The pro-PKI trade union SOBSI was banned in April.
With the justification of denouncing Chinese communism, Suharto not only closed communist-leaning parties, but also extended his reach toward all Chinese Indonesian parties and all aspects of Chinese Indonesian socio-culture. Suharto effectively stripped Chinese Indonesians of power, banning them from politics and the military. He championed forced assimilation policy against Chinese Indonesians so that they would forget their ties to China. This policy brought forth many
anti Chinese legislations. Suharto passed and enacted very discriminatory citizenship laws, such as forcing Chinese Indonesians to re-register themselves as Indonesian citizens by renouncing their alleged Chinese citizenship regardless of the validity of the Indonesian citizenship they may already have. He denounced Chinese cultures and banned Chinese characters and literature. Allegedly, Suharto was also the mastermind of the 1965 slaughter of millions of Chinese Indonesians, purportedly to eradicate the
Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).
Unitary state and regional unrest
From his assumption of office until his resignation, Suharto continued Sukarno's policy of asserting Indonesian sovereignty. He acted zealously to stake and enforce territorial claims over much of the region, through both diplomacy and military action.
In 1969, Suharto moved to end the longtime controversy over the last Dutch territory in the East Indies,
western New Guinea. Working with the
United States and
United Nations, an agreement was made to hold a referendum on self-determination, in which participants could choose to remain part of the Netherlands, to integrate with the Republic of Indonesia, or to become independent. Though originally phrased to be a nationwide vote of all adult Papuans, the "
Act of Free Choice" was held July–August 1969 allowed only 1022 "chiefs" to vote. The unanimous vote was for integration with the Republic of Indonesia, leading to doubts of the validity of the vote.
[23]
In 1975, after
Portugal withdrew from its colony of
East Timor and the
Fretilin movement momentarily took power, Suharto ordered troops to invade East Timor. Later the
puppet government installed by Indonesia requested the area be annexed to the country. It was estimated that 200,000 people, roughly a third of the local population, were killed by the Indonesian forces or affiliated proxy forces. On
July 15,
1976 East Timor became the province of Timor Timur until it was transferred to the
United Nations in 1999.
In 1976, the regime was challenged in the province of
Aceh by the formation of the
Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, who demanded independence from the unitary state. Suharto quickly authorized troops to put down the rebellion, forcing several of its leaders into exile in
Sweden. Prolonged fighting between GAM and the Indonesian military and police led Suharto to declare martial law in the province, by naming Aceh a "military operational area" (DOM) in 1990.
Underpinning Suharto's territorial ambitions was the rapid development of Indonesia's traditional urban centers. The rapid pace of this development had vastly increased their population density. In response, Suharto pursued the policy of
transmigration to promote movement from crowded cities to rural regions of the archipelago where
natural resources had not yet been exploited.
Politics and dissent
In 1970, corruption prompted student protests and an investigation by a government commission. Suharto responded by banning student protests, forcing the activists underground. Only token prosecution of the 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 a number of electoral reforms. According to his electoral rules, however, only three parties were allowed to participate in the election: his own
Golkar party; the Islamist
United Development Party (PPP); and the
Democratic Party of Indonesia (PDI). All the previously existing political parties were forced to be part of either the PPP and PDI, with public servants under pressure to join Golkar. In a political compromise with the powerful military, he banned its members from voting in elections, but set aside 100 seats in the electoral college for their representatives. As a result, he was unopposed for reelection as president in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1998.
On
May 5,
1980 a group Petition of Fifty (Petisi 50) demanded greater political freedoms. It was composed of former military men, politicians, academics and students. The Indonesian media suppressed the news and the government placed restrictions on the signatories. After the group's 1984 accusation that Suharto was creating a
one-party state, some of its leaders were jailed.
In the same decade, it is believed by many scholars that the Indonesian military split between a nationalist "red and white faction" and an Islamist "green faction." As the 1980s closed, Suharto is said to have been forced to shift his alliances from the former to the latter, leading to the rise of
Jusuf Habibie in the 1990s.
After the 1990s brought end of 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 American 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 passing limitations on
IMET assistance to the Indonesian military, over the objections of President
George H.W. Bush.
[24] In 1993, under President
Bill Clinton, the U.S. delegation to the
UN Human Rights Commission helped pass a resolution expressing deep concern over Indonesian human rights violations in East Timor.
[25] The Indonesian invasion and occupation of
East Timor has been called the worst instance of
genocide (relative to population) since the
Holocaust [1].
Resignation
''For more details on this topic, please see
Indonesian Revolution of 1998''
In 1996 Suharto was challenged by a split over the leadership of the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), a legal party that propped up the regime.
Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of
Sukarno, had become PDI's chairwoman and was increasingly critical of Suharto's regime. In response, Suharto backed a co-opted faction led by Deputy Speaker of Parliament
Suryadi. The Suryadi faction announced a party congress to sack Megawati would be held in
Medan June 20 - 22.
In response, Megawati proclaimed that if sacked, her supporters would hold demonstrations in protest. The Suryadi faction went through with its sacking of Megawati, and the demonstrations manifested themselves throughout Indonesia. This led to several confrontations on the streets between protesters and security forces. A deal was eventually made with the military to allow Megawati's supporters to take over PDI headquarters in Jakarta, in exchange for a pledge of no further demonstrations. During this time, Megawati supporters organized "democracy forums" at the site, with several activists making speeches denouncing Suharto and his regime.
[26]
After one month of this, police, soldiers, and persons claiming to be Suryadi supporters stormed the headquarters, killing Megawati supporters and arresting two-hundred. Those arrested were tried under the Anti-Subversion and Hate-spreading laws.
[27]The day would become known as "Black Saturday" and mark the beginning of a renewed crackdown by the New Order government against supporters of democracy, now called the "Reformasi" or Reformation.
In 1997
Asian financial crisis had dire consequences for the Indonesian economy and society, and Suharto's regime. The Indonesian
currency, the
rupiah, took a sharp dive in value. Suharto came under scrutiny from international lending institutions, chiefly the
World Bank,
IMF and the
United States, over longtime embezzlement of funds and some
protectionist policies. In December, Suharto's government signed a letter of intent to the
IMF, pledging to enact
austerity measures, including cuts to public services and removal of
subsidies, in return for receiving the aid of the
IMF and other donors.
Beginning in early 1998, the
austerity measures approved by Suharto had started to erode domestic confidence in the regime. Prices for
commodities such as kerosene and rice, and fees for public services including education rose dramatically. The effects were exacerbated by widespread corruption.
Suharto stood for reelection for the seventh time in March 1998, justifying it on the grounds of the necessity of his leadership during the crisis. As in past years, he was unopposed for reelection. This sparked protests and riots throughout the country, now termed the
Indonesian Revolution of 1998. Dissension within the ranks of his own Golkar party and military finally weakened Suharto, and on
May 21 he stood down from power. He was replaced by his deputy
Jusuf Habibie.
Post-presidency
After his fall from the presidency, Suharto's secret fortune began to be publicized in the press.
Since his resignation, Suharto has retired to a family compound in Central Jakarta, making few public appearances. Efforts to prosecute Suharto have mostly centered around alleged mismanagement of funds, and their force has been blunted due to health concerns.
Investigations of wealth
In May 1999, a
''Time Asia'' estimated Suharto's family fortune at US$15 billion in cash,
shares, corporate assets, real estate, jewelry and fine art. Of this, US$9 billion is reported to have been deposited in an
Austrian bank. The family is said to control about 36,000 km² of real estate in Indonesia, including 100,000 m² of prime office space in Jakarta and nearly 40 percent of the land in East Timor. Over US$73 billion is said to have passed through the family's hands during Suharto's 32-year rule.
On
May 29 2000, Suharto was placed under
house arrest when Indonesian authorities began to investigate the corruption during his regime. In July, it was announced that he was to be accused of embezzling US$571 million of government donations to one of a number of foundations under his control and then using the money to finance family investments. But in September court-appointed doctors announced that he could not stand trial because of his declining health. State prosecutors tried again in 2002 but then doctors cited an unspecified brain disease.
According to
Transparency International, Suharto
embezzled more money than any other world leader in history with the estimated US $15–35 billion embezzlement during his 32 years rule.
[ Suharto tops corruption rankings ]
Health and attempts at prosecution
Since resigning from the presidency, Suharto has been hospitalized repeatedly for
stroke, heart, and intestinal problems. These conditions have affected the many attempts to prosecute Suharto on charges of corruption and human rights violations, as his lawyers have repeatedly and successfully claimed that the conditions render him unfit for trial. Various opponents and aggrieved parties have charged that Suharto is
malingering, and complained of the hypocrisy of the mercy shown toward him.
On
6 May 2005, Suharto was taken to Pertamina Hospital in Jakarta with intestinal bleeding, believed to be from
diverticulosis. The political elite of Indonesia, including President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President
Jusuf Kalla, visited his bedside. He was released and returned home,
May 12, 2005.
On
26 May 2005, the Jakarta Post reported that amid an effort by the government of President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to crack down on corruption, Indonesian Attorney General Abdurrahman Saleh appeared before a Parliamentary commission to discuss efforts to prosecute New Order figures, including Suharto. Attorney General Abdurrahman remarked that he hoped Suharto could recover so that the government could begin inquiries into New Order human rights violations and corruption for purposes of compensation and recovery of state funds, but expressed skepticism that this would be possible. As a result, the Supreme Court of Indonesia has issued a decree making the office of the Attorney General responsible for supervising Suharto's medical care.
On
24 April 2006, Attorney General Abdurrahman announced that a team of twenty doctors would be asked to evaluate Suharto's health and fitness for trial. One physician, Brigadier General Dr Marjo Subiandono, stated his doubts about by noting that "[Suharto] has two permanent cerebral defects."
[28] In a later
Financial Times report, Attorney General Abdurrahman discussed the re-examination, and called it part of a "last opportunity" to prosecute Suharto criminally. Attorney General Abdurrahman left open the possibility of filing suit against the Suharto estate."
[29]
On
4 May 2006, Suharto was again admitted to Pertamina Hospital for intestinal bleeding. His doctors stated further that Suharto was suffering from partial
organ failure and in unstable condition.
[30]
Related legal cases
Unable to prosecute Suharto, the state has instead pursued legal actions against his former subordinates and members of his family. Suharto's son Hutomo Mandala Putra, more widely known as
Tommy Suharto, was initially sentenced to fifteen years in jail for arranging the murder of a judge who sentenced him to eighteen months for his role in a land scam in September 2000. He became the first member of the Suharto family to be found guilty and jailed for a criminal offence. Tommy Suharto maintained his innocence, and won a reduction of his sentence to ten years in June 2005. On
October 30,
2006 he was freed on "conditional release".
BBC
In 2003, Suharto's half-brother Probosutedjo was tried and convicted for corrupt practices that lost a total of $10 million from the Indonesian state. He was sentenced to four years in jail. He later won a reduction of his sentence to two years, initiating a probe by the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission into the alleged scandal of the "judicial mafia" which uncovered offers of $600,000 to various judges. Probosutedjo confessed to the scheme in October 2005, leading to the arrest of his lawyers. He later had his full four year term reinstated. After a brief standoff at a hospital, in which he was reportedly protected by a group of police officers, he was arrested on
30 November 2005.
On July 9, 2007, Indonesian prosecutors have filed a civil lawsuit against former President Suharto, to recover state funds ($440m or £219m, which allegedly disappeared from a scholarship fund, and a further $1.1bn in damages).
[31]
On September 4, 2007,
mediation at the
Attorney General's Office (AGO) between
prosecutors and
lawyers of Soeharto over the
Supersemar foundation civil lawsuit failed and thus the trial will have to commence.
[32]
Further reading
★ McDonald, H., '''Suharto's Indonesia''', Fontana Books, 1980, Blackburn, Australia, ISBN 0-00-635721-0
★ Schwarz, A. 1999, '''A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia's Search for Stability''', Westview Press; 2nd edition (October 1999), ISBN 0-8133-3650-3
References
★ Two former strongmen, Soeharto-Lee Kuan Yew meet again
★ Army in Jakarta Imposes a Ban on Communists
★ What happened before the riots? Ed Aspinall
★ Attorney general doubts Soeharto can be prosecuted
★ Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, , William, Blum, Common Courage Press, 1995, ISBN 1-56751-052-3
★ ''Camdessus Commends Indonesian Actions''. Press Release. International Monetary Fund. (31 October 1997)
★ CIA Stalling State Department Histories
★ The Family Firm John Colmey
★ Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-77326-1
★ H.AMDT.647 (A003): An amendment to prohibit any funds appropriated in the bill to be used for military education and training assistance to Indonesia
★ Indonesia: Arrests, torture and intimidation: The Government's response to its critics
★ Indonesia Economic
★ Jakarta Cabinet Faces Challenge
|
★ "Jakarta Leftist Out As Army Chief" New York Times October 15, 1965
★ Ex-agents say CIA compiled death lists for Indonesians Kathy Kadane
★ How Did Suharto Steal $35 Billion? Cronyism 101 Brendan Koerner
★ Jakarta Cabinet Faces Challenge
★ MI6 Spread Lies to Put Killer In Power
★ Britain's Secret Propaganda War, Lashmar, Paul; Oliver, James, , , Sutton Pub Ltd, 1999, ISBN 0-7509-1668-0
★ Public Expenditures, Prices and the Poor
★ Indonesia's 1969 Takeover of West Papua Not by "Free Choice" Brad Simpson
★ Suharto tops corruption rankings
★ "Sukarno Removes His Defense Chief" New York Times February 22, 1966
★ Tapol Troubles: When Will They End?
★ The Mute's Soliloquy : A Memoir, Toer, Pramoedya Ananta, , , Penguin, 2000, ISBN 0-14-028904-6
★ Two former strongmen, Soeharto-Lee Kuan Yew meet again
★ United Nations High Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/97: Situation in East Timor
|
Notes
1.
2. Unresolved Problems in the Indonesian Killings of 1965-1966, Robert Cribb, , , Asian Survey,
3. Indonesian Policies toward the Chinese Minority under the New Order, Leo Suryadinata, , , Asian Survey,
4. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
5. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
6. Perkembangan kepolisian di Indonesia, , R., Oudang, Mahabarata, 1954,
7. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
8. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
9. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
10. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
11. Suharto: A Political Biography, , R.E., Elson, Cambridge University Press, 2001, 052177326
12. Suharto's Indonesia, , Hamish, McDonald, Fontana Books, , ISBN 0-00-635721-0
13. Suharto's Indonesia, , Hamish, McDonald, Fontana Books, , ISBN 0-00-635721-0
14. Suharto's Indonesia, , Hamish, McDonald, Fontana Books, , ISBN 0-00-635721-0
15. Suharto's Indonesia, , Hamish, McDonald, Fontana Books, , ISBN 0-00-635721-0
16. Jakarta Leftist Out As Army Chief
17. Army in Jakarta Imposes a Ban on Communists
18. Jakarta Cabinet Faces Challenge
19. Sukarno Removes His Defense Chief
20. Indonesia Economic
21. How Did Suharto Steal Billion? Cronyism 101 Brendan Koerner
22. Kahin, George McT. and Kahin, Audrey R. Subversion as Foreign Policy: The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia. New York: The New Press, 1995.
23. Indonesia's 1969 Takeover of West Papua Not by "Free Choice" Brad Simpson
24. H.AMDT.647 (A003): An amendment to prohibit any funds appropriated in the bill to be used for military education and training assistance to Indonesia
25. United Nations High Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/97: Situation in East Timor
26. What happened before the riots? Ed Aspinall
27. Indonesia: Arrests, torture and intimidation: The Government's response to its critics
28. Former Indonesian dictator unfit to stand trial - doctor
29. Jakarta makes final attempt to pursue Suharto charges Shawn Donnan
30. Suharto's condition is 'unstable'
31. Civil suit filed against Suharto
32. Jakartapost.com, Mediation fails, Soeharto civil trial continues
External links
★
Mohammed Suharto Biography - From FamousMuslims.com.
★
"Suharto, Inc." - A
24 May 1999 ''
TIME Asia'' expose on Suharto's regime and family, published on the first anniversary of Suharto's resignation.
★
''Shadow Play'' - Website accompanying a 2002
PBS documentary on Indonesia, with emphasis on the Suharto-era and the transition from New Order to Reformation.
★
"Suharto to Iraq: Nothing has changed" – Article by British journalist and Suharto critic
John Pilger on the fortieth anniversary of the Indonesian Civil War in ''
Zmag'' (originally published in the ''
New Statesman'').
★
''Tiger Tales: Indonesia'' - Website accompanying a 2002
BBC World Service radio documentary on Indonesia, focusing on early Suharto era. Features interviews with Indonesian generals and victims of the regime. Program is available in streaming RealAudio format.
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