Page 68 - SCANDAL AND DEMOCRACY

Chapter Three

Suharto’s Fall

Because we are silenced
and you never shut up . . .
Because we are threatened
and you impose your will by force . . .
therefore we say NO to you.
Because we are not allowed to choose
and you can do what you like . . .
Because we wear only sandals
and you use your rifles freely . . .

Because we have to be polite
and you have the prisons . . .
therefore NO and NO to you.
Because we are like a fl owing river
and you are a stone without a heart
the water will wear away the stone.
—W. S. Rendra, “Water Will Wear Away the Stone,”
delivered at Trisakti University, in response to
the shooting of four students on May 12, 1998

With the ban of newsweeklies Tempo , Editor , and Dë TIK in June 1994, Indonesia’s
brief political opening came to an abrupt close, and constraints on civil society tight-
ened. The country had begun to change, but there was little evidence in the public
sphere. Throughout his reign, President Suharto’s legitimacy had rested on providing
order, stability, and economic development. As long as he appeared to deliver on these
grounds, opposition forces had difficulty questioning his authority. But in 1997, the
Asian economic crisis hit Indonesia with devastating force, undermining his regime’s
claim to all three accomplishments and creating an opportunity for a student-led
reform movement to challenge his continued rule.
This chapter tells the story of this challenge and Suharto’s subsequent fall from
power. But it also looks critically at the complex and often contradictory nature of the
media’s relationship to the student movement. Complicating its reciprocal nature was
a division between mainstream outlets, which remained cautious to the end, relying
upon the sacrifices of student demonstrators to win them greater freedom of expres-
sion, and more critical publications forced underground by the bans, such as Tempo ,
whose martyrdom and continued resistance set a standard for students as well as fel-
low journalists. This dissident movement, led by media activists, further influenced
students via collaboration with nongovernmental organizations that themselves
recruited from campuses. By branching out into new terrain, such as poll watching,
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