Word: suhartos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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JAKARTA: How's Habibie doing? The new Indonesian president's cabinet appointments -- seen as the first test of Suharto's sucessor and his ability to survive -- drew a lukewarm response when they were unveiled here Friday morning. Out: Suharto golf buddy Mohammed "Bob" Hasan, as well as the former president's extremely unpopular daughter Tutut. Still in: Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Economic Minister Ginanjar Kartasasmita. TIME Jakarta correspondent Terry McCarthy rates Habibie's cabinet a C-minus: "It's only halfway there," he says. "There's a lot of academics, and a few minor cronies. It wasn't brilliantly done...
...More importantly, the students aren't happy. "Bring down Habibie! Put Suharto on trial!" chanted a 1,500-strong youth group in the first major protest since Suharto's resignation. Over a thousand Habibie supporters also took to the streets Friday -- which suggests that the former veep must be doing something right. But half an endorsement isn't good enough, considering the economic tidal wave that's about to hit Habibie's shores. "Because he's not going to have support from across the board," says McCarthy, "it's hard to see how he's going to weather that." Habibie...
With his nation of 200 million pushed to the brink of anarchy, President Suharto said Tuesday he would end his 32-year reign after reshuffling his cabinet and holding general elections. "I will not be prepared to be elected any more," the 76-year-old leader said in a 15-minute national television address. But important questions -- like just how soon he would give up power -- remain unanswered. Suharto indicated he would stay until a new parliament is elected, which could take at least several months. And if the unrest is quelled before then, he may be persuaded to change...
...TIME correspondent John Colmey says Indonesians aren't sure if Suharto could manage a transition. The President has to contend with skeptical students, thousands of whom gathered at the Parliament building and vowed not to leave unless he steps down at once. For the students -- still reeling after snipers gunned down six of their own last week -- promises of a gradual transfer of power simply aren't good enough: Suharto must go, and he must go now. With a large demonstration set for Wednesday, and with students promising not to leave the Parliament building, it's shaping...
...military faces the same "billion-dollar question" as they have for 32 years now, says McCarthy: If not Suharto, who? "There's no answer right now," he says. "But whoever it is will need the approval of the military. They're the ones that determine the succession of power." They might start by restoring the peace...