Word: suharto
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Asep, a Jakarta parking-lot attendant, rejoiced in 1998 when Indonesian strongman Suharto was overthrown after three decades of authoritarian rule. But democracy hasn't proved to be quite the boon he and so many other Indonesians expected. In some ways, says Asep, his life is worse now than ever before. Under Suharto, he says, at least he only had to bribe one person?a stadium security officer?for the right to manage the lot at Senayan Stadium. But now, Asep complains, he is routinely approached by people claiming to be policemen, soldiers, sports department officials and political-party officers...
...Asep's frustration should be tripping the alarms in the offices of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The daughter of Indonesia's founding father Sukarno, Megawati, 57, is called Ibu (Mother) by her adoring supporters, and not long ago she embodied an egalitarian Indonesia no longer dominated by Suharto's cozy cabal of politicians and businessmen. But after two ineffective and inconsistent years in office, Megawati has started to look more like Mini-wati in the eyes of the disillusioned masses, who are voicing their disappointment at the ballot box. Members of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (known by its Indonesian...
...Campaigning has just begun for Indonesia's first direct presidential election, set for July 5, and the incumbent is suddenly beset by credible challengers. One is Megawati's former Security Minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, leader of Partai Demokrat, a new populist party. Another is Wiranto, a former general under Suharto, who last week was nominated as Golkar's presidential candidate...
...that make things to those that finance them, with dotted lines sometimes leading to the government. The payoff for decades of commercial consanguinity has varied from nation to nation. For more than 30 years the impoverished Indonesian archipelago was run as a mom-and-pop operation by the ruling Suharto family. In contrast, South Korea's economic miracle was engineered by some 30 ambitious conglomerates called chaebol, almost all family controlled, while the commercial drive of industrious Hong Kong and Taiwan emanated from anthills of small, adroit family shops that promiscuously abandoned products and premises whenever better opportunities came along...
...make the grade. President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is sure to be among them, but widespread disenchantment over her perceived detachment and inaction will probably cut into its support. The party might even be surpassed by Golkar, the political machine created by former dictator Suharto, who was forced to resign in 1998. Nostalgia is growing for the Suharto era, when prices were stable and economic growth strong, and that could benefit both Golkar and a party recently formed by Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana. Another threat is posed by Megawati's former security chief, Susilo...