B

acharuddin Jusuf Habibie, our third president, celebrated his 82nd birthday on June 25. We should recognize his legacies in democracy, the economy, the Timor Leste settlement and advanced technology — despite his brief presidency from May 21, 1998, to Oct. 20, 1999.

In March 1998, then-president Soeharto, who had ruled the country for 32 years, appointed Habibie as his vice president. Two months later, in the wake of “people power” expressing overwhelming distrust in his rule, Soeharto announced his resignation. He appointed Habibie to replace him. He immediately implemented major reforms following social unrest and violence across Jakarta and other cities.

Habibie reformed the administration, removed all restrictive laws, allowed for a free press, arranged for free parliamentary and presidential elections the following year and issued a regulation to limit presidential terms to two five-year terms. He also granted amnesty to hundreds of political prisoners who opposed the previous militaristic and centralistic regime.

Habibie was indeed the father of Indonesian democracy.

At the end of Soeharto’s administration, economic growth was minus 13 to 15 percent but Habibie stabilized this extremely dire condition. He issued his first timetable for economic, political and social recovery, predicting a turnaround within a year or two despite the stunning meltdown.

The rupiah lost more than 80 percent of its value against the dollar from July 1997. Inflation soared over 50 percent along with widespread unemployment and social unrest. Weeks of political turmoil derailed a US$43 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund, which was examining how to implement a rescue plan.

Habibie led efforts to bring down our currency rate from about Rp 18,000 to the US dollar to Rp 6,000 in a short period of time. The World Bank noted: “No country in recent history, let alone one the size of Indonesia, has ever suffered such a dramatic reversal of fortune.”

Therefore, we can name Habibie the pioneer of Indonesia’s economic and financial recovery.

He also played a key role in solving the Timor Leste issue. In 1996, the conflict received global attention when two Timorese leaders, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end armed conflict in the former province.

New president Habibie offered conditional autonomy to Timor Leste and, when pro-independence forces rejected it, proposed a referendum to determine its status. In 1999, the United Nations monitored the referendum, with a 99 percent turnout despite fears of violence. Over 78 percent voted for separation from Indonesia.

Habibie had addressed the problem of Timor Leste, a former Portuguese colony, differently from Papua’s. As a Dutch colony, Papua was under the rule of the Ternate Sultanate, today’s North Maluku, since 1928. Along with other parts of the former East Indies archipelago, it was integrated into Indonesia on Aug. 17, 1945.

Habibie appealed to those advocating for Papua’s freedom inside and outside the country, saying they could help build Papua in the new, more democratic and decentralized Indonesia, adding that there was no reason for the former Irian Jaya province to remain underdeveloped.

Habibie is still both hailed and criticized for Timor Leste’s independence, the latter by those fearing the “Timor effect” on today’s Papua and West Papua.

Regarding Habibie’s legacy in advanced technology, in 1974 Soeharto summoned the aeronautic engineer home from Germany as part of his drive to industrialize and develop the country. In 1976, Habibie was appointed CEO of new state-owned enterprise Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), now PT Dirgantara Indonesia (Indonesian Aerospace Inc.).

In 1978, Habibie was appointed research and technology minister. He continued to play an important role in IPTN, which grew considerably. By 1991, Habibie oversaw 10 state-owned industries, which was involved in ship and train building, steel, arms, communications and energy.

IPTN became a manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft including Puma helicopters and CASA planes. It pioneered a small passenger plane, the N-250 turboprop aircraft or Nusantara 250, and the Gatokaca in 1995.

The N-250 took its maiden flight on Aug. 10, 1995, which was conducted after several successful test flights. Indonesians were proud of IPTN’s success in designing the N-250 turboprop over two decades ago. It was made in Indonesia and engineered by Indonesian experts.

However, the N-250 development project was halted when the government discontinued funding following the financial crisis in 1998.

Habibie recently startled many when he restarted the aircraft industry under PT Ilhabi Rekatama, which is owned by his son, the engineer Ilham Habibie.

Habibie said the R80 prototype aircraft’s engineers would learn from the experience gained when they developed the N250 plane.

Officials say the R80 will be completed and ready to fly in 2022. It is now in the design stage. In this respect, Habibie is indeed the father of Indonesia’s advanced technology. Thanks to him those achievements, records and dedication to leverage this country from crises to recovery has led to global recognition and appreciation, economically, politically and socially.

Now, Indonesia is a trillion-dollar economy and the envy of Southeast Asia. It was also recently elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the period of 2019 and 2020.

Happy belated birthday, Pak Habibie.
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