Opposing Suharto: COMPROMISE, RESISTANCE, AND REGIME CHANGE IN INDONESIA Edward Aspinall STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Opposing Suharto east-west center series on CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Muthiah Alagappa, Series Editor Opposing Suharto compromise, resistance, and regime change in indonesia Edward Aspinall stanford university press stanford, california 2005 Stanford University Press Stanford, California www.sup.org © 2005 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho- tocopying and recording, or in any information storage or re- trieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Aspinall, Edward. Opposing Suharto : compromise, resistance, and regime change in Indonesia / Edward Aspinall. p. cm.—(Contemporary issues in Asia and the Pacific) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8047-4844-6 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-8047-4845-4 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Indonesia—Politics and government—1966–1998. 2. Soeharto, 1921– 3. Opposition (Political science)— Indonesia—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series. DS644.4.A85 2005 320.9598'09'049—dc22 2004008168 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival- quality paper. Original printing 2005 Last figure below indicates year of this printing: 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 Designed and typeset at Stanford University Press in 10/12 Sabon. A Series from Stanford University Press and the East-West Center CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Muthiah Alagappa, Series Editor A collaborative effort by Stanford University Press and the East-West Center, this series addresses contemporary issues of policy and scholarly concern in Asia and the Pacific. The series focuses on political, social, economic, cultural, demographic, environmental, and technological change and the problems related to such change. A select group of East- West Center senior fellows—representing the fields of political science, economic development, population, and environmental studies—serves as the advisory board for the series. The decision to publish is made by Stanford. Preference is given to comparative or regional studies that are concep- tual in orientation and emphasize underlying processes and to work on a single country that addresses issues in a comparative or regional context. Although concerned with policy-relevant issues and written to be acces- sible to a relatively broad audience, books in the series are scholarly in character. We are pleased to offer here the latest book in the series. The East-West Center, headquartered in Honolulu, is a public, non- profit educational and research institution established by the U.S. Con- gress in 1960 to foster understanding and cooperation among the gov- ernments and peoples of the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States. EAST-WEST CENTER SERIES ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri lanka By Neil DeVotta Beyond Bilateralism: U.S.-Japan Relations in the New Asia-Pacific Edited by Ellis S. Krauss and T. J. Pempel Population Change and Economic Development in East Asia: Challenges Met, Opportunities Seized Edited by Andrew Mason Capital, Coercion, and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines By John T. Sidel Making Majorities: Constituting the Nation in Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, Fiji, Turkey, and the United States Edited by Dru C. Gladney Chiefs Today: Traditional Pacific Leadership and the Postcolonial State Edited by Geoffrey M. White and Lamont Lindstrom Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority Edited by Muthiah Alagappa Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xi 1. Regime and Opposition 1 2. Suharto’s New Order: Origins and Opening 20 3. Regime Friction and Elite Dissidence 49 4.Proto-opposition: NGOs and the Legal Aid Institute 86 5. Student Activism: From Moral Force to Popular Mobilization 116 6. Megawati Soekarnoputri and the PDI 145 7.Prelude to the Fall: The 1996 Crisis and Its Aftermath 177 8. The Fall of Suharto 202 9. Indonesia’s Opposition and Democratic Transition in Comparative Perspective 239 10. Legacies of Suharto and His Opposition 269 Notes 275 Glossary 293 Bibliography 299 Index 315 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Many people assisted with the preparation of this book and the Ph.D. dissertation upon which it is based. In Indonesia, I owe a debt of grati- tude to many individuals and groups who generously shared their time, insights, and experiences with me, allowed me to access their archives, and invited me to witness or participate in seminars, meetings, and other activities. Without their support, this study would not have been possible. Laksamana Sukardi gave me time and office space and helped to arrange interviews with many PDI leaders and others. Bondan Gunawan was a source of much insight into nationalist politics and introduced me to many useful contacts. Among NGOs, I spent much time at the YLBHI office in Jakarta, and many of the then directors and staff there were most generous. Among those to whom I owe particular thanks are Adnan Buyung Nasution, Mulyana W. Kusumah, Hendardi, Rambun Tjajo, Teten Masduki, and Tedjabayu. I spent much of my time with activists who were either students or re- cent graduates from student politics. They not only informed me about the student activist scene but also provided many of the crucial building blocks of knowledge about Indonesian politics on which this study is based. Among those to whom I am most grateful are Harry Wibowo, (the late) Harry Pribadi, Item, Daniel Indrakusumah, Standarkiaa, I. Gusti Anom Astika, Djatih Waluyo, Wilson, and Mahmud. Members of Yayasan Geni, DMPY, Yayasan Arek, the Ganesha group at ITB, and various branches of the PRD were not only generous with their experi- ences and archives but also let me stay at their offices or homes, some- times for weeks at a time. In Jakarta, I was lucky to share a house with Colin Rundle and James Balowski, who provided many interesting discussions and a pleasant home environment. Kirsty Sword shared her home with me during an eventful two months in late 1995. In Canberra, the Department of Political and Social Change in the Re- x Acknowledgments search School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National Uni- versity not only supported me during my years of postgraduate study but also provided me with a research fellowship during which I completed most of the revisions to this manuscript. In the department, I owe thanks to Beverley Fraser and Claire Smith for their support. Allison Ley pro- vided much help in editing the manuscript. David Reeve and other col- leagues in the Department of Indonesian and Chinese Studies at the Uni- versity of New South Wales were also very patient as I struggled to complete my Ph.D. while learning the ropes of university teaching. More recently, colleagues at the University of Sydney have also been very gen- erous. Kathy Ragless put me up during many visits to Canberra, proof- read the manuscript, and has been a great friend. My supervisor, Harold Crouch, shared with me his wide-ranging and detailed knowledge of Indonesian politics and contributed greatly to the design of this study. R. William Liddle, Ben Kerkvliet, Marcus Mietzner, and Ken Ward also read the Ph.D. or book manuscript in whole or in part, as did the two anonymous reviewers for Stanford University Press. They provided me with many valuable comments and saved me from many errors (any remaining ones are my own responsibility). Meredith Weiss, Kit Collier, and Kyaw Yin Hlaing provided helpful comments on Chapter 9 at very short notice. Muthiah Alagappa of the East-West Cen- ter supported the publication of the manuscript and offered invaluable advice. Siobhan Campbell, Elisabeth Jackson, and Sally White provided editorial and research assistance. Tony Hicks at Stanford University Press carefully saw the book through to publication. I also thank Glenn Flanagan, who has been a constant source of sup- port and inspiration. Finally, my parents, Donald and Anita Aspinall, in- troduced me to Indonesia and provided much encouragement and assis- tance through my years of study. I dedicate this book to the memory of my father, whose life was a model of scholarly integrity. Sections of this book draw on previously published material. Parts of Chapter 5 draw on “Students and the Military: Regime Friction and Civilian Dissent in the Late Suharto Period,” Indonesia 59 (April) 1995: 21–44. Passages in Chapter 8 use material from “Opposition and Elite Conflict in the Fall of Soeharto,” in The Fall of Soeharto, ed. Geoff For- rester and R. J. May (Bathurst, New South Wales: Crawford House Pub- lishing, 1998), 130–53; and “The Indonesian Student Uprising of 1998,” in Reformasi: Crisis and Change in Indonesia, ed. Arief Budiman, Bar- bara Hatley, and Damien Kingsbury (Clayton, Victoria: Monash Asia In- stitute, 1999), 212–38. Many of the ideas expressed in this book were first explored in “The Broadening Base of Political Opposition in In- donesia,” in Political Oppositions in Industrialising Asia, ed. Garry Ro- dan (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), 215–40. Preface In Pancasila Democracy there is no place for Western style opposition (oposisi ala Barat). In the world of Pancasila democracy we have deliberation (musyawarah) to achieve