Word: indonesia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...step down in the face of economic collapse and social tumult. But the military also facilitated Suharto's departure by guaranteeing him immunity from prosecution. But like Pinochet, Suharto may be a victim of the shifting balance of power, although the balance hasn't shifted quite as far in Indonesia, which is still beset by ethnic violence and fierce infighting among both the political and military elites - and that's worked to Suharto's advantage. Even if convicted on corruption charges, he's already been guaranteed a pardon by the beleaguered President Abdurrahman Wahid, in a sign of the tenuous...
Thus began the bizarre reign of Indonesia's fourth President, a man so contradictory that even his closest aides say they cannot understand him half the time. With one foot in the traditional world of Javanese mysticism and the other in the modern world of globalization, Wahid has an internal compass that spins wildly in all directions. He knows the Koran by heart and can also discuss German soccer players with Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. He tells risque jokes to his "friend" Bill Clinton and then pays court to Fidel Castro and Muammar Gaddafi. Of more concern, he is fickle...
When Wahid took office, his unpredictability was interpreted as an asset in a complex mission to cleanse Indonesia of the legacy of Suharto. Eight months on, even his supporters are starting to worry that it might be a liability. The economy is barely holding together, and religious violence is shaking the country to its foundations. Since mid-June, more than 200 Christians and Muslims have been killed in fighting in the Maluku Islands. Having admitted that "the situation is out of control," Wahid two weeks ago declared a state of emergency in the region. But the shooting and bombing have...
Moreover, Suharto's shadow may hang over Indonesia until the disposition of the ex-dictator's allegedly ill-begotten fortune is determined. Last month a court in Jakarta threw out a defamation suit brought by Suharto against TIME for a May 1999 article claiming that the President and his family had acquired some $15 billion during his rule. (Suharto has appealed.) Wahid cites the suit as proof of the dictator's hidden wealth. Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has accused cronies of Suharto's of inciting bloody riots to derail further investigations. Yet in the meantime, Wahid has been secretly negotiating...
...gentle message of tolerance to both sides of the community. In a mosque, one man angrily asked why Wahid and his 30 million-member Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization has not done more to base the new government on Islam. Wahid calmly replied that he is not going to make Indonesia into an Islamic country because that was never the N.U.'s intention and other religions need to be respected. By the way, he continued, the N.U. was founded by 6,000 wise Muslim clerics, and did the questioner want to criticize all 6,000 of them? The crowd dissolved into...