For many Indonesians the events that unfolded during the period 1996-1998 will be remembered with a mixture of emotions and understandably so. A series of mysterious happenings in the countryside, twisted plots of subversion, abductions of activists, explosive ethnically-charged violence, tragic shootings, massive demonstrations and student led sit-ins all captured the national psyche during the period and showed the world, largely through 30 second CNN vignettes, a country undergoing phenomenal social change. The social spasms culminated in the resignation of Suharto, Indonesia’s second president who ruled the country for 32 years through a system of patronage legitimized by economic growth and brought down by its collapse.
Prominent contemporary journalist, poet and political observer Goenawan Mohammad describes a mixture of euphoria and horror that seized the hearts of university students demanding change during this crucial stage in the country's political evolution. This made for a volatile cocktail of emotions as students hungry for reform and justice watched Suharto, the static symbol of heavy handedness, depart on May 21, 1998 only to be replaced by his protÈgÈ vice president B.J. Habibie.
For many who observed these changes taking hold in Indonesia real time there was a constant struggle to piece together the larger story and make sense of a complex set of personalities involved and the unpredictable maneuverings of Indonesia's political elite. Stefan Ekl'f offers an in-flight recorder, a black box if you will, stringing together a chronology of clippings, analysis, and collections of interviews to reconstruct this chapter in Indonesian history. Ekl'f's analysis is solid:
Although
Habibie immediately signaled his commitment to political reform and more openness,
most students were disappointed that they had failed to bring about a more thorough
regime change. Even though Suharto
was gone, the political framework of the New Order remained intact…There was
also a widespread feeling that the students had been exploited as pawns in the
political maneuvering among the elites.
In its final stages, the fall of Suharto was more due to intra-elite
maneuvering than to ‘people power.'
The author documents human rights violations and the destruction of material property which occurred in early May 1998 through witness accounts and reports from NGOs such as the Joint Fact Finding Team (TGPF), Tim Relawan untuk Kemanusian and the National Human Rights Commission (KOMNASHAM). Ekl'f constructs a credible description of command controls and troop movements during the height of the political crisis to substantiate his assessment of the likely involvement and instigation of unrest by Kopassus troops.
Ekl–f's examination of the events that precipitated massive political change in Indonesia during 1996-1998, while academic, is readable and responsible. The complex, countervailing powers within Indonesia's government, military and civil society are telescoped by the author as are the interrelationships of political parties and student groupings (notable is Ekl'f's tracking of the Pancasila Youth provocation in Suharto's last days). This provides context and a vivid backdrop as tension between students and security forces escalated; as the fragile national economy eroded and confidence in the banking system faded; as popular discontent was vented with greater frequency and intensity; and as Suharto's options narrowed.
As Indonesia prepares for the first democratic presidential election in the history of the young republic in October 1999, many of the actors are familiar though their orientation and allegiance in the political landscape has mutated. The likes of Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien Rais, Gus Dur, General Wiranto and others remain highly influential in this process. The same intra-elite maneuvering that characterized the last power transfer may dominate the transition at hand. And while Suharto no longer presides over the country, the legacy of the New Order regime's policies and the inadequacies and distortions of the judicial, legislative and other civil institutions will be inherited by the new government. So too debate over the adequacy of the 1945 Constitution, the centralized power and revenue relationship between Jakarta and other provinces in the vast archipelago, and the role of the armed forces. Ekl'f will have no shortage of topics to explore in studies beyond The Long Fall of Suharto.