Post-Suharto era in Indonesia

The Reformasi of 1998 led to changes in Indonesia's various governmental institutions, including the structures of the judiciary, legislature, and executive office. Generally, the fall of Suharto in 1998 is traced from events starting in 1996, when forces opposed to the New Order began to rally around Megawati Sukarnoputri, head of the PDI and daughter of the founding president Sukarno. When Suharto attempted to have Megawati removed as head of this party in a back-room deal, student activists loyal to Megawati occupied the headquarters of PDI in Jakarta. This culminated in Black Saturday on 27 July, when the military broke up the demonstrations.

These actions, along with increasing concerns over human rights violations in Indonesian-occupied East Timor, began to unsettle Suharto's usually friendly relations with Western countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These further worsened when the 1997 Asian financial crisis hit Indonesia, highlighting the corruption of the New Order.

Economic instability from the crisis affected much of the country, in the form of increased prices for staple foods and goods, and lowered standards of living and quality of life. These touched off riots, many targeting ethnic Chinese Indonesians; bolstered by the findings of Parliamentary and independent investigations, it is often theorised that these anti-Chinese riots were instigated or aided by the military to divert anger away from Suharto himself.

Shops looted and goods burned on the streets in Jakarta, 14 May 1998

In West Kalimantan, there was communal violence between Dayaks and Madurese in 1996, in the Sambas riots in 1999 and the Sampit conflict 2001, resulting in large scale massacres of Madurese.[3][4][5] In the Sambas conflict, both Malays and Dayaks massacred Madurese.

Growing dissatisfaction with Suharto's authoritarian rule and the rapid erosion of the economy led many, chiefly the younger generation, to renew their protests directly against the New Order. During the period 1997–1998 (mainly at 13–15 May 1998), a massive riot broke out in Indonesia. People were burning everything within the city, including cars, motorcycles, buildings, and monuments in addition to pillaging and looting from stores. This was further worsened when many were killed and raped, most of which were Chinese Indonesians. No action was taken by the army or the police. In 1998, Suharto decided to stand before the parliament for re-election and won. The result was considered so outrageous that students occupied the parliament building. Suharto soon stood down from the presidency and named B. J. Habibie (of Suharto's own Golkar party) his successor. Considered the unseen power behind the throne, General Wiranto of the Chief of Staff over the military that was central to the New Order is believed to have been behind the decision of Suharto to step down.

Habibie takes the presidential oath of office on 21 May 1998.

After Suharto's resignation, Vice-President B. J. Habibie was sworn in as president and undertook numerous political reforms.

In February 1999, the Habibie administration passed the Political Parties Law,[6] under which political parties would not be limited to just three as had been the case under Suharto. Political parties were also not required to have Pancasila as their ideology. This resulted in the emergence of many political parties, and 48 would go on to compete in the 1999 legislative election.

In May 1999, the Habibie administration passed the Regional Autonomy Law,[7] which was the first step in decentralising Indonesia's government and allowing provinces to have more part in governing their areas. The press became liberated under Habibie, although the Ministry of Information continued to exist. Political prisoners such as Sri Bintang Pamungkas, Muchtar Pakpahan, and Xanana Gusmão were also released under Habibie's orders.

Habibie also presided over the 1999 legislative elections, the first free election since 1955. It was supervised by the independent General Elections Commission (KPU) instead of an elections commission filled with government ministers as had been the case during the New Order.

In a move that surprised many, and angered some, Habibie called for a referendum on the future of East Timor. Subsequently, on 30 August, the inhabitants of East Timor voted for independence. This territorial loss harmed Habibie's popularity and political alliances.

In 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid became President of Indonesia. His first cabinet, dubbed the National Unity Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Persatuan Nasional), was a coalition cabinet that consisted of members of various political parties. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), National Awakening Party (PKB), Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), National Mandate Party (PAN), and Justice Party (PK). Non-partisans and the military (TNI) were also represented in the cabinet. Wahid made two administrative reforms. The first was to abolish the Ministry of Information, the New Order's primary weapon in controlling the media while the second was to disband the Ministry of Welfare which had become corrupt and extortionist under the New Order.[8]

Under Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founder and first president Sukarno, the process of democratic reform begun under Habibie and Wahid continued, albeit slowly and erratically. Megawati appeared to see her role mainly as a symbol of national unity, and she rarely actively intervened in government business. Under her tenure, the Mutual Assistance Cabinet (Indonesian: Kabinet Gotong Royong) helped govern the country. It included Megawati's successor, the retired General SBY. The military, disgraced at the time of Suharto's fall, regained much of its influence. Corruption continued to be pervasive, though Megawati herself was seldom blamed for this.

Some Indonesian scholars explained Megawati's apparent passivity in office by reference to Javanese mythology. Megawati, they said, saw her father, Sukarno, as a "Good King" of Javanese legend. Suharto was the "Bad Prince" who had usurped the Good King's throne. Megawati was the Avenging Daughter who overthrew the Bad Prince and regained the Good King's throne. Once this had been achieved, they said, Megawati was content to reign as the Good Queen and leave the business of government to others. Some prominent critics such as Benedict Anderson jokingly referred to the president as "Miniwati."[23]

Although the economy had stabilised and partly recovered from the 1997 crisis by 2004, unemployment and poverty remained high. The Indonesian Constitution was amended to provide for the direct election of the president, and Megawati stood for a second term. She consistently trailed in the opinion polls, due in part to the preference for male candidates among Muslim voters, and due to what was widely seen as a mediocre performance in office. Despite a somewhat better than expected performance in the first round of the elections, she was defeated by SBY in the second round.

Two months after SBY assumed office, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami struck Aceh and other countries along the Indian Ocean coastline. Three months later, an aftershock of the earthquake triggered a tsunami in Nias Island. In 2006, Mount Merapi erupted and was followed by an earthquake in Yogyakarta.

Indonesia also suffered a small outbreak of bird flu and endured the Sidoarjo mud flow. In 2007, severe floods struck Jakarta. SBY allowed Jakarta governor Sutiyoso to open the Manggarai watergate with the risk of flooding the Presidential Palace.[24]

On 1 October 2005, suicide bombings occurred on the island of Bali. The attacks bore the hallmarks of the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)—a group linked to Al-Qaeda—though police investigation was underway. The group was also responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings. SBY condemned the attack, promising to "hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.".[25]

In 2005, economic growth was 5.6%[26] which decreased to 5.4% in 2006[27] Inflation reached 17.11% in 2005[28] but decreased to 6.6% in 2006.[29]

SBY also allocated more funds to decrease poverty. In 2004, 11 trillion rupiah was set aside, increasing to 23 in 2005 and 42 in 2006. For 2007, 51 trillion was allocated.[30] In March and October 2005, SBY made the unpopular decision to cut fuel subsidies, leading to increases in fuel prices of 29% and 125% respectively.[31] The poor were somewhat compensated by the Direct Cash Assistance (BLT), but the cutting of subsidies damaged SBY's popularity. In May 2008, rising oil prices contributed to SBY's decision to cut fuel subsidies once more, which were the subject of protests in May and June 2008.

In 2009, SBY was elected for a second term along with Boediono, the former Governor of Bank Indonesia. They defeated two candidates: Megawati Soekarnoputri - Prabowo Subianto and incumbent vice-president, Jusuf Kalla - Wiranto. The SBY-Boediono ticket won the election with more than 60% votes of nationwide in the first round.

In 2014, constitutionally barred from running for a third term, SBY was succeeded by Joko Widodo (Jokowi) with Kalla returning as vice president, defeating Prabowo and Hatta Rajasa. Jokowi is the first president without a high-ranking military or political background. During his 2014 election campaign, Jokowi promised to improve economic GDP growth to 7% and to end the bagi-bagi kursi (giving government positions to political allies) policy, although these promises are yet to be fulfilled. The Indonesian rupiah hit its lowest level record in 20 years during his administration.[32][33]

A controversial remark by his former deputy governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) led to divisions in the country's Muslim population amid a gubernatorial election. The Jokowi administration responded by banning the Indonesian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

There have been concerns of declining freedom of expression during this period, evidenced by the arrest, detainment, and imprisonment of many people for their social media activity being interpreted as an "insult" to the president.[34]

Several disasters, such as earthquakes (In Palu, Lombok, and Banten) and a haze due to deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra occurred during this period. ISIL-linked bombings have also occurred in Jakarta and Surabaya.

Central Statistics Agency reported in March 2018 that the poverty rate in Indonesia was 9.82 percent, down from March 2017 which was 10.64 percent. This was the first time that poverty levels in Indonesia had been reduced to below two digits. Previously, the poverty rate was always above 10 percent, even reaching 23.4 percent in 1999 after the 1997-1998 crisis.[35]

• Barton, Greg (2002). Abdurrahman Wahid: Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President. Singapore: UNSW Press, p. 320. ISBN 0-86840-405-5, pages 290

• Chandra, Siddharth and Douglas Kammen. (2002). "Generating Reforms and Reforming Generations: Military Politics in Indonesia’s Transition to Democracy." World Politics, Vol. 55, No. 1.
• Dijk, Kees van. (2001). A country in despair. Indonesia between 1997 and 2000. KITLV Press, Leiden, ISBN 90-6718-160-9
• 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 No. 75.
• Bünte, Marco/Andreas Ufen: Democratization in Post-Suharto Indonesia, London: Routledge