Suharto
Posted on July 6, 2005
Filed Under Indonesia, Personality, Politics, Profile
Suharto, also spelled Soeharto (June 8, 1921 – January 27, 2008) was an Indonesian military leader, and the second President of Indonesia, holding the office from 1967 to 1998.[1]
A veteran of the war for independence (1945-49) against the Dutch, he became army chief of staff in 1965. He opposed the pro-Chinese policies of President Sukarno and, while still relatively unknown, crushed a Communist coup in 1965 and then moved to replace Sukarno. Suharto assumed key civilian cabinet offices in 1966, became acting president in 1967, and assumed the office of supreme commander of the army and was elected president in 1968. He was reelected every five years from 1973 to 1998. [2]
Partly because of a surge in oil revenues during the 1970s, Indonesia’s economic situation improved substantially during Suharto’s presidency. Beginning in 1968 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 1980s government corruption and repression combined with international trends to fuel Islamic political activity. In 1990, Suharto created the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) to accommodate growing concern over the potentially strong political force of the Muslim groups. President Suharto and his military supporters were able to contain these and all other political rivals, and he began to give more attention to preparation of a successor regime.
In the 1990s, continued corruption and oppression of opposition presented a growing obstacle to sustained economic growth. Nonetheless, Suharto was elected to his sixth five-year term in 1993.[3]
Popular, military and political support in Indonesia for Suharto’s 32-year presidency eroded dramatically following the devastating effect of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis on Indonesia’s economy and standard of living. Suharto was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 following mass demonstrations and violence. Suharto lived his post-presidential years in near seclusion, and died at the age of 86 in Jakarta in 2008.[4]
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[1] Wikipedia
[2] The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
[3] Encyclopedia of World Biography 2004
[4] Wikipedia
Tags: presiden indonesia, soeharto, suharto
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