1973-1981 since 1998







The Era Suharto III : Indonesia 1981-1998


Administration . Elections in 1982 returned Golkar as the largest party. President Suharto, who in 1981 had announced that he would not be available for a fourth term, was reelected in 1983. In 1984 Indonesia's government promoted Pancasila (the Five principles - belief in a supreme deity, humanitarianism, nationalism, democracy and social justice) in an attempt to restore harmony; Islamic radicals denounced government secularism and called for a jihad. In 1987 elections were held for a parliament with 500 seats (previously 460), of whom 100 were appointed; Golkar emerged again as the largest political party. In 1988 President Suharto was reelected; the elections for the post of vice president were contested. Military operations against secessionists in Irian Jaya and East Timor continued, in Aceh began in 1990 In 1992, general elections were held; while Golkar continued to be the dominant political forces, it registered considerably fewer votes than in earlier elections In 1994 President Suharto was reelected.

Foreign Policy . Measures taken against secessionists in Irian Jaya in 1984 caused protests by Papua New Guinea. Relations with Australia cooled, as the latter refused to recognize Indonesia's 1976 annexation of East Timor. In 1985 an Afro-Asian Conference was held in Bandung, Indonesia. In 1986, U.S. president Ronald Reagan visited Indonesia. In 1990, Indonesia and the PR China normalized diplomatic relations, suspended since 1967. In the 1990es, Indonesia faced rising international criticism for human rights violations in East Timor. In 1996, East Timorese Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1994 an APEC conference was held in Bogor, Indonesia.

The Economy . The Gulf War (1980-1988) pitted two OPEC members, Iran and Iraq, against each other; both in a desparate need to raise revenues, from 1981 exported as much oil as they could, and caused oil prices, high since 1973, to drop drastically. This resulted in the Indonesian oil revenues to contract sharply. Indonesia in 1983 responded by devaluating the Rupiah by 27.5 % cut spending and subsidies. The Third Five Year Plan (1979-1984) was followed by a fourth (1984-1989), a Sixth (1989-1994) and Seventh (1994-1999). In 1986, Indonesia devalued the Rupiah by 45 %.
Rice production rose from 32.7 million metric tons in 1981 to 50.8 million metric tons in 1999 (IHS p.198).
Production of crude petroleum was 76.8 million metric tons in 1981, 74.2 million metric tons in 1998 (IHS p.364).
B.R. Mitchell has established a table showing the total values of exports and imports in aggregate current values. Exports exceeded imports throughout the period from 1981 to 1996 (IHS p.545), the decreasing oil revenues causing exports to shrink from 1981 to 1986. In the 1990es, exports rose significantly, from 25.6 billion US Dollars in 1990 to 49/8 billion US Dollars in 1996, in consequence of an economic policy of liberalization. The country's Chinese minority continued to dominate the Indonesia's economy; in 1990 President Suharto called upon ethnically Chinese businessmen to sell part of their stocks.
In 1995 Indonesia joined WTO. In 1997 Indonesia was severely affected by the East Asian Financial Crisis.

Infrastructure . In 1986 Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, at Cengkareng outside Jakarta, was opened, replacing smaller earlier airports in the city.

Social History . Indonesia's population was estimated at 151.3 million in 1981, at 203.6 million in 1998.

Cultural History . In 1989, Indonesia's TVRI lost its monopoly on television broadcasts.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Library of Congress, Country Studies : Indonesia
Timeline of Indonesian History 1965-1998, from Serajah Indonesia
Article Golkar, from Wikipedia
Article Suharto, from Wikipedia
Article 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis, from Wikipedia
Article New Order, from Wikipedia
Article Pancasila, from Wikipedia
Article TVRI, from Wikipedia
Dayak Insurgency, since 1983, from Global Security
Aceh since 1989, from Global Security
DOCUMENTS Historical Population Statistics : Indonesia, from Population Statistics (J. Lahmeyer)
REFERENCE Steven Drakeley, The History of Indonesia, Westport CT : Greenwood 2005, KMLA Lib.Sign. 959.8 0763h
Robert Cribb, Historical Dictionary of Indonesia, Lanham MD : 2nd edition Scarecrow 2004, KMLA Lib.Sign. R 959.8 C928h
IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Article : Indonesia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1982 p.431, 1983 pp.426-427, 1984 pp.428-429, 1985 pp.515-516, 703, 1986 pp.510, 700, 1987 pp.480, 669, 1988 pp.437-438, 621, 1989 pp.437-438, 622, 1990 pp.453-454, 637, 1991 pp.436-437, 622, 1992 pp.409-410, 621, 1993 pp.412-413, 630, 1994 pp.413-414, 629, 1995 pp.420-421, 630, 1996 pp.418-419, 630, 1997 pp.432, 628 [G]
Article : Indonesia, in : The Statesman's Year-Book 1981-1982 pp.673-680, 1983-1984 pp.676-682, 1984-1985 pp.678-684, 1985-1986 pp.681-687, 1986-1987 pp.684-690, 1987-1988 pp.690-696, 1988-1989 pp.692-698, 1989-1990 pp.699-705, 1990-1991 pp.700-707, 1991-1992 pp.698-705, 1992-1993 pp.772-779, 1993-1994 pp.771-777, 1994-1995 pp.763-770, 1995-1996 pp.760-766, 1997-1998 pp.708-715, 1998-1999 pp.759-766 [G]
Article : Indonesia, in : The World in Figures 4th ed. 1984 pp.169-171 [G]
Article : Indonesia, in : Americana Annual 1988 p.279, 1989 p.278, 1990 pp.271-272, 1992 p.280, 1993 pp.279-280, 1994 p.279 [G]
Statistical Yearbook of Indonesia, 1994 volume [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 13th 2002, last revised on May 10th 2007

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