Page 241 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

On 31 October 1997, the first letter of intent (LoI) was approved, which
was an IMF crisis recovery program with a standby loan facility of US$
38 billion. As a follow-up to the deal, 16 banks were liquidated on 1 No-
vember and the Government said it would guarantee the repayment of
depositors’ funds in those banks.

In the midst of the economic downturn, the 1998 MPR General Assembly
was held on 1 to 11 March 1998. During the five-year national agenda, on 5
March, as many as 20 University of Indonesia students came to the DPR/
MPR Building to express their rejection of the accountability speech of
the President presented at the General Assembly of the People’s Con-
sultative Assembly and submit the national reform agenda. They were
accepted by the ABRI Faction.

Speaker of the DPR-RI, Harmoko However, Golkar, with its majority in the MPR, re-nominated Soeharto
holding a Press Conference
asking Soeharto to step down. as president. Soeharto, who seemed confident he could overcome the
economic crisis, accepted the nomination for the seventh term. Soe-
harto’s attitude triggered a strong reaction in society, especially among
students, hence becoming the starting point for the birth of the reform
movement to displace Soeharto’s power.

The period of 1976-1988 could be said to be the golden period of the New
Order. The various programs it created were successful. The Family Plan-
ning Program was implemented to suppress the very high population

234