Suharto
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND MILITARY STABILITY
1921
Suharto was born on June 8, 1921 in Kemusuk Village, Argomulyo, Godean, west of Yogyakarta City. According to Suharto, his father was named Kertosudiro, an ulu-ulu officer, a term for a village official who was tasked with regulating water distribution. Kertosudiro, who was a widower with two children, then married Sukirah. From this woman, Suharto was born. Not long after Suharto was born, Sukirah and Kertosudiro divorced.
1929
Suharto entered school when he was eight years old, and often moved schools. Initially he was schooled at Puluhan Elementary School, Godean. Then, he moved to Pedes Elementary School because his mother and his adoptive father, Pramono, moved house to Kemusuk Kidul. Kertosudiro, his biological father, then moved Suharto to Wuryantoro, Purwodadi, Central Java.
1939
After graduating in 1939, Suharto was accepted to work at a village bank (volks-bank) as a clerk's assistant, whose daily work involved pedaling his bicycle around the village, meeting with farmers and small traders.
1940
Suharto became a member of the KNIL, the Dutch East Indies Army, on June 1, 1940. It was in the KNIL that he received military education from the Dutch at a relatively young age, namely 19 years old. Later in the KNIL, he also received education to reach the rank of Sergeant. When the Dutch surrendered to Japan in February 1942, Suharto moved to Yogyakarta. However, after Japan opened a vacancy for Kempetai (Japanese military police), Suharto applied, and thanks to the help of Prawirohardjo, Sudwikatmono's father, Suharto was accepted. On the advice of the chief of military police, Suharto then became a member of PETA (Defenders of the Homeland) in October 1943, at the age of 22.
1945
In October 1945, Suharto officially became the Indonesian National Army (TNI). During the war of independence, Suharto led troops to face Dutch military actions that attempted to re-occupy Indonesia.
1947
Suharto married a girl he had known since childhood, namely Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah (later known as Ibu Tien). The marriage took place in Solo. At that time, Suharto was 26 years old and Hartinah was 24 years old. They were blessed with six children, namely Siti Hardijanti Hastutim Sigit Harjojudanto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti Hediati Herijadi, Hutomo Mandala Putra, and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih.
1949
Suharto successfully led troops to retake Yogyakarta from the Dutch who had not given up on controlling Indonesia. Although the initiators of the attack were the King of Yogyakarta, the Military Governor, and the Minister of Defense Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, it was during this event that Suharto's name began to be widely known.
1959
Suharto was involved in a smuggling case and his case was almost brought to a military court by Colonel Ahmad Yani. However, on the advice of General Gatot Soebroto, at that time Suharto was released and transferred to the Army Staff and Command School (SSKAD, now Seskoad) in Bandung, West Java.
1961
Suharto became a Brigadier General and led the Mandala Command tasked with capturing West Irian. The most important thing that Suharto obtained at that time was his introduction to Colonel Laut Sudomo, Major Ali Moertopo, and Captain LB Moerdani who would later become the most important and strategic people in the New Order government. Upon his return from East Indonesia, Suharto was promoted to Major General, and was brought to the ABRI (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia) Headquarters by General AH Nasution. Then, in mid-1962, Suharto was appointed as Commander of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad).
1965
On September 30, 1965, high-ranking military/ABRI officers were kidnapped, killed, and their bodies thrown into a well in the Lubang Buaya area, Cipayung, East Jakarta. Currently, the incident is known as the September 30th Movement (G30S). The incident was said to have occurred because the PKI was about to carry out a coup. The day after the incident, Suharto took over the leadership of the Army. This was because Lieutenant General Ahmad Yani, the Army Commander at that time, was unknown. In October 1965, Suharto replaced Ahmad Yani, who was killed in the G30S incident, as Army Commander. Since then, Suharto has disbanded the PKI and its mass organizations.
1966
In March 1966, President Sukarno handed over power to Suharto through the March 11, 1966 Letter of Command. The letter of command became Suharto's entry point to become President of Indonesia. Although it gave rise to dualism in the government, the transfer of power had encouraged the MPR, through a Special Session, to appoint Suharto as acting president in March 1967. After one year, Suharto was finally inaugurated by the MPR as full president.
1967
Faced with a chaotic economy inherited from Sukarno, Suharto opened the floodgates for foreign investment in 1967. For Suharto, the influx of foreign investment would turn the wheels of the economy. During the New Order, development was also reinforced by the concept of the Development Trilogy. The development was formulated in the long term (25 years) and short term (five years). During the New Order period, there were six short-term developments, namely Repelita I (1969-1974), Repelita II (1974-1979), Repelita III (1979-1984), Repelita IV (1984-1989), Repelita V (1989-1994), and Repelita VI (1994-1999).
Photo source: Kompas.com
1972
In the early 1970s, the political temperature in the country heated up. The trigger was the construction of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) which was considered by students and intellectuals as a form of waste amidst limited state finances. Moreover, before Tien Suharto announced the plan to build the lighthouse project, Suharto advised the people not to be wasteful. As a form of protest, students held discussions and demonstrations rejecting the project. In order to ward off the wave of demonstrations, the government banned activities that opposed the construction of the project, and arrested several figures who opposed TMII.
1973
In order to strengthen the role of the state in national and state life, President Suharto grouped political parties into three groups. First, the spiritual group represented by the PPP as a result of the merger of NU, Parmusi, PSII, and the Islamic Party Perti. Second, the PDI represented the nationalist group as a result of the fusion of PNI, the Catholic Party, the Murba Party, IPKI, and Parkindo. Third, Golkar as Suharto's political vehicle became president for six terms and the military controlled the seats in the DPR.
1974
After the TMII case, precisely in 1974, the Malari (January Disaster) incident erupted. The incident occurred due to the misappropriation of the national development program by government officials at the end of Repelita I. At the same time, instead of prioritizing the interests of the people, economic policies prioritized Japanese investors. It is not surprising that students and intellectuals were furious and took to the streets in protest. Like the TMII case, the government again detained students and intellectuals to prevent the riots from getting worse.
1978
Suharto's re-nomination as president was rejected by student movements on several campuses. Therefore, despite rejection from various student organizations, he then implemented NKK/BKK (Normalization of Campus Life/Student Coordination Body) in 1978. The goal was to prevent students from getting involved in politics outside of campus.
1982
The Malari incident in 1974 apparently left an unpleasant experience for Suharto. The action of taking to the streets, even anarchic, caused foreign capital that should have been used for the development of Indonesia to flee abroad. Since that incident, he has increasingly controlled the freedom of society, including silencing the press through the Basic Press Law No. 12/1982.
1986
Suharto received a gold medal from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 1986. In general, the award was given because Indonesia's rice production was surplus, even able to help the famine-stricken African population. However, rice self-sufficiency during the New Order did not last long, only five years, namely 1984-1988.
1994
On June 21, 1994, Suharto banned the newspapers Tempo, Editor, and Detik. Not only that, the government also banned books that did not comply with government policies. The bans were carried out because their reports contained criticism of the government, and eventually caused Suharto to be angry.
1996
The death of Mrs. Tien on April 28, 1996 was said to have hit President Suharto very hard. Moreover, after 1996, Suharto received various political attacks. One of the biggest events after Mrs. Tien's death was the case of a group of people with unclear identities attacking the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) led by Megawati Soekarnoputri on July 27, 1996.
1998
In late 1997, the Southeast Asian financial crisis hit Indonesia. The economic crisis quickly turned into a political crisis. Despite following the IMF's prescription, such as eliminating several economic policies deemed damaging, Suharto was still unable to stem the crisis. In front of domestic and foreign journalists, as well as presidential aides, Suharto finally resigned as President of Indonesia on May 21, 1998.
2000
After being named a defendant in the case of misuse of funds from the foundation he led, Suharto's first trial was held on August 31, 2000 at the Jakarta District Court. However, due to health reasons, he did not attend the trial. The following trials also had the same story. Until the end of his life, he never appeared in court at all.
2008
Suharto died on January 27, 2008 at the age of 87. Like Ibu Tien, he was buried in Astana Giri Bangun, Karanganyar, Central Java, right next to the grave of his beloved wife.
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