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Indonesian presidents in times of crisis: The way I see it
Before the 1997 crisis hit, foreign countries such as the United States and Japan and international organizations like the World Bank treated Indonesia as their “golden boy”.
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Meet the leaders: A visitor passes a display of puppets made to resemble Indonesia’s former presidents Soeharto (left), BJ Habibie (center) and Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid. The three presidents led the nation through its most tumultuous period in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. (Image Dynamics/File)
T
he Jakarta Post celebrated its 39th anniversary on Monday as mainstream media worldwide, including the print industry, faces trying times. This English-language newspaper is also confronting the consequences of the rise in the role of social media, with a strong conviction that the swing will eventually find its new equilibrium.
I began my journey as the Post’s reporter when Indonesia was hit hard by financial and political crises 25 years ago. I joined the daily on April 15, 1997, after working for the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun for 12 years. The Post at that time needed a reporter who had the official accreditation to cover the Presidential Palace, which was very limited back then.
As a reporter who closely watched how things developed at that time, I can conclude the crises resulted in at least four major changes in Indonesia. The suffering of the people, the persistent struggle of young people and students, the determination of the people to end Soeharto’s dictatorship and the passion to transform Indonesia into a full-fledged democracy.
One of my colleagues recently uploaded on her Facebook page one, if not the most, iconic front pages of the Post with its thumping, large headline “I quit”, which was about the resignation of then-president Soeharto 24 years ago. The same front page also carried a picture of the swearing-in of BJ Habibie as Indonesia’s third president, replacing his former mentor.
Perhaps my colleague posted the memorable headline to mark the 39th anniversary of this newspaper.
“I wrote the report,” I told my colleague, to her surprise. Maybe because she was still a small girl 24 years ago.
As a reporter of the Post, I covered three presidents – Soeharto, BJ Habibie and Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid – on nearly a daily basis from 1997 to July 2001, when Indonesia felt the pinch of and was recovering from economic and political upheavals. I was among the eyewitnesses of their exits from office, with Gus Dur impeached by the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and replaced by his vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
