Ironically, Suharto would not have been in a position of such influence if the organizers of the "30th of September Movement"—a dramatic if politically confused coup attempt—had deemed him important enough to include in their list of generals targeted for execution. As it was six generals were abducted and, either immediately or soon thereafter, killed on the night of September 30, In the ensuing hours and days Suharto gained control of the military in Jakarta and successfully portrayed the generals' assassination as an operation of the Communist Party of Indonesia.
President Sukarno, whose role in the so-called coup was not clear, sought to protect the Communists from the military's retaliation, but Suharto was relentless. In March President Sukarno was maneuvered into a transfer of executive powers to Suharto.
A further series of official acts, culminating in the March 27, , decree of the People's Consultative Congress, formalized Suharto's assumption of the presidency. Sukarno, under close surveillance at his Bogor palace, died in June Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Indonesia had been banned and large numbers of Communists and alleged Communist sympathizers were killed or imprisoned throughout Indonesia.
Suharto, as president, reversed some of the previous regime's foreign policies, such as confrontation with Malaysia and general hostility to the West, and displayed a sober, problem-solving style in his approach to domestic problems.
In addition, Suharto augmented his trusted personal staff with a corps of "technocrats, " highly-placed economists trained in the United States. Partly because of a surge in oil revenues during the s, Indonesia's economic situation improved substantially during Suharto's presidency.
Beginning in he was re-appointed to the presidency every five years with virtually no opposition. Yet his tenure was not free of controversy. Allegations of favoritism and greed were directed at the palace and, among other relatives, involved especially his aristocratic Javanese wife, Tien Suharto.
In the s government corruption and repression combined with international trends to fuel Islamic political activity. In , Suharto, a senior army officer, narrowly saved Sukarno from a communist coup. In the aftermath, he moved to replace Sukarno and launched a purge of Indonesian communists that resulted in thousands of deaths. In , he assumed full power and in was elected president. Reelected every five years until his forced resignation in , Suharto stabilized his nation and oversaw significant economic progress.
Suharto died in But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! On February 22, , year-old Barbara Jo Rubin becomes the first female jockey to win a race at an American thoroughbred track when she rides Cohesion to a victory by a neck over Reely Beeg in the ninth race at Charles Town, West Virginia.
That she raced at all was a In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.
Spanish colonization of the Florida peninsula began at St. Claims by President Lyndon Johnson that the offensive was a complete failure were misleading. Suharto's next step was to depoliticize Indonesia. Cabinet ministers were not allowed to make their own policies but instead had to implement the policies that were formulated higher up.
Golkar acronym for Golongan Karya , or functional groups was used as Suharto's powerful parliamentary vehicle. It contained several hundreds of smaller functional groups such as labour unions, peasants and businesses which made sure that the Indonesian people were no longer to be mobilized by political parties. Golkar was developed into an electoral machinery to produce a majority for the government.
It had a network up to the village districts and was financially sponsored to promote the central government. Civil servants were obliged to support Golkar while village heads received quotas of Golkar votes to fill. These policies resulted in a big victory for Golkar during the elections. To extend his grip on politics even further, Suharto 'encouraged' the nine political parties that existed to merge into two.
Political activities, however, were very much restricted to short campaign periods prior to national elections. From the early beginnings of the New Order, macroeconomic figures were impressive a detailed account can be found in the New Order Miracle section. However, these economic policies also led to resentment by the Indonesian people as the government was considered to be too focused on attracting foreign investors.
When big investment opportunities were given to Indonesians it were usually military officers or the small group of ethnic Chinese Indonesians who, although representing a small portion of the total population, were dominating the economy. Fed up with corruption, collusion and nepotism , thousands of people went to demonstrate in when the Japanese prime minister paid a visit to Jakarta. This demonstration turned into massive violent riots which became known as the 'Malari-riots'.
It was a frightening experience for the government because it proved unable to control the people. Concerned that one day there might be an uprising among the millions of urban and rural poor, new more repressive policies were implemented by the government. Twelve newspapers were closed and journalists detained without trial, thus stimulating self-censorship. Any dissent expressed by the public such as demonstrations were now quickly act upon.
The economic side of this policy shift - much to the approval of the Indonesians - was the introduction of more restrictive measures on foreign investment and preferential policies favouring indigenous businessmen. In national politics Suharto managed to tighten his position in the s.
The oil booms made sure that money was abundant, which was used for financing progress with the development of the country's infrastructure as well as poverty alleviation programs. Internationally, however, Indonesia's standing was weakened by its invasion of East Timor. After decolonization from Portugal - and East Timor's subsequent declaration of independence in - the Indonesian army quickly invaded the country; an invasion marked by violence.
In all social-political organizations were decreed to declare the Pancasila the five principles that form the foundation of the Indonesian state, introduced by Soekarno in the s as their sole ideology. Suharto could now use the Pancasila as a tool for repression because all organizations were under the continuous threat of being accused of anti-Pancasila activities. It can be stated that during the s Suharto was on the pinnacle of his power. Each election implied an easy victory.
Moreover, he had succeeded in making the army powerless. Similar to the political parties and civil service, the army was there only to implement Suharto's policy.
But this depoliticization of Indonesian society had one important side effect. It caused the revival of an Islamic consciousness, especially among the youth.
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