Soeharto era comes to a close

Jusuf Wanandi Jakarta, The Jakarta Post

Soeharto died on Sunday after a series of illnesses since stepping down in May 1998. He achieved substantial development and improvements in Indonesia since he reluctantly took over from Sukarno. However, he destroyed his own achievements because he overstayed his time and effectiveness and became isolated, surrounded by sycophants, as so often happened with authoritarian rulers.

SOEHARTO JP/P.J. Leo

In 1965 he was a hero to many Indonesians when he outlawed the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), which tried to instigate a coup on September 30, 1965, and step by step removed Sukarno reluctantly. In the vacuum of power that ensued, a few hundred thousands members and supporters of the Communist Party were killed, and he did not do much about it.

He rehabilitated the economy that was in tatters due to Sukarno's negligence, and embarked on economic development, which after 20 years made Indonesia one of the tigers of Southeast Asia. However, he damaged his achievements afterwards when he practiced KKN (corruption, cronyism and nepotism). He encouraged bribes and corruption, and the society is still suffering from it today. His poor governance worsened the financial crisis.

In the beginning he did pay a great deal of attention to the farmers and did a lot for the poor through education, basic healthcare and family planning. But the crisis in 1998 erased most of the achievements, as unemployment, underemployment and poverty started to increase again.

He brought political stability following the upheavals in the late 1960s, but his increased autocratic ways became a renewed source of instability, local conflicts and rebellions.

In the end only his foreign policy was a success. He ended Konfrontasi, the confrontation with Malaysia, in August 1965 despite Sukarno's opposition. ASEAN was established in 1967, and with this, he placed Indonesia in a regional structure. He earned the trust of the other members, and as Lee Kuan Yew has acknowledged, it was the leadership of Indonesia that sustained ASEAN.

Despite being close to the West for economic reasons, especially early in his presidency, he managed to stay as free and independent as any non-aligned country. He got a lot of recognition from UN agencies such as the FAO and others.

What legacies has he left behind? He created a middle class which has made democracy a more viable political system in Indonesia, and paired with the decentralization that was introduced following his demise, Indonesia has been kept together following the upheavals after the crisis of 1997-98.

He created a more balanced foreign policy, which had become highly adventurous during the Sukarno presidency. This was more in accordance with Indonesia's free and independent principles laid down by the Founding Fathers, especially Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Syahrir. In other areas, he started well, but then it became disjointed because of his authoritarian rule and for staying in power for too long. He opened the economy, but he also introduced KKN into the system, which has become a curse until today.

He was unwilling to prepare a new generation of leaders, and as a result all the four presidents after him were not up to the task.

Soeharto's reign was indeed a very mixed blessing for the country and society. Our feelings for him are at best very ambivalent. On the one hand he was a hero, but he overstayed in his job and a created a lot of excesses that were unacceptable and could not be condoned. That is why strengthening state and society institutions should be our main focus in the future, and the country should no more rely so heavily on strongmen and charismatic leaders.

The writer is vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta