Indonesian army general and politician who served as the second President of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998, the longest presidential tenure in Indonesian history. He rose to power after an attempted coup in September 1965, which his forces suppressed and blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party, followed by a violent anti-communist purge. His New Order government delivered sustained economic growth, but was also marked by authoritarian rule, mass human rights violations and entrenched corruption. The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 to 1998 collapsed the currency and exposed underlying weaknesses in the economy, triggering mass protests that forced his resignation in May 1998. He died in Jakarta in January 2008.
Facts
RolePresident of Indonesia, 1967 to 1998 1 BirthplaceJava, Dutch East Indies 1 Role
Role (category) FAQs
Why did Suharto resign as president of Indonesia in 1998?
He was forced to resign on May 21, 1998, after the Asian financial crisis, widespread riots and the loss of military support.
Suharto resigned on May 21, 1998, after a combination of pressures came together. The financial crisis that swept across Asia exposed the economic weaknesses and the endemic corruption of his government, and inflation hurt poor and middle class Indonesians. Widespread riots broke out in cities and on islands, and he lost the support of the military. He had led the country since 1967, and he was forced out after about three decades in power.
How fast did Indonesia's economy grow under Suharto?
About 7 percent a year across his three decades in power, according to one source.
One source reports that during his three decades of leadership the Indonesian economy grew at about 7 percent a year. That growth came under a government that kept strong control over political life, and by the 1990s endemic corruption was evident.
Connections
Associated With
The financial crisis of 1997 to 1998 collapsed the rupiah and exposed the corruption underlying his New Order government, triggering the protests that forced his resignation in May 1998 after 31 years in power.
Source Suharto: The Giant of Modern Indonesia Who Left a Legacy of Violence and Corruption (ABC News)
In Era
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Presidents Of Indonesia Through History (WorldAtlas)
WorldAtlasPresidents Of Indonesia Through History: Suharto
He was a career military officer and a political leader who became the president of Indonesia in 1967.
Suharto: Gender
He rose to power after an attempted coup in September 1965, which his forces suppressed and blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party, followed by a violent anti-communist purge.
View the Source Suharto: The Giant of Modern Indonesia Who Left a Legacy of Violence and Corruption (ABC News)
ABC News (Australia)Associated With: Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 to 1998View the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- In Era: The Contemporary Period
- In Era: The Cold War
View the Source Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
Writing in The Conversation, Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, argues that the growth-focused framing of Suharto legacy, poverty falling from roughly 45 percent in 1970 to 11 percent in 1996, understates how much of that prosperity flowed to a ruling elite through entrenched corruption, kickbacks and foundations built to reward political loyalty. Lindsey further argues that the growth narrative cannot be separated from the repression that protected it: killers from the 1965 to 1966 anti-communist massacres, in which roughly half a million people died, still enjoy complete impunity, and no one has ever been tried for those killings. On this account the economic record is not a counterweight to the authoritarian record but a product of it.
A dissenting reading, from Tim Lindsey (Professor of Asian Law, University of Melbourne)Tim Lindsey, Soeharto: The Giant of Modern Indonesia Who Left a Legacy of Violence and Corruption (The Conversation), The Conversation
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