Page 104 - Transformasi Masyarakat Indonesia dan Historiografi Indonesia Modern

Transformasi Masyarakat Indonesia...

nization in helping to solve the economic and security issues in
the region, and have played an important role in containing
and managing territorial and other security conflicts.

2. The Economic Crisis: A New Threat and Challenge to
East and Southeast Asia
Unluckily, the picture of the stability and sustainability of
the spectacular economic growth of the East Asia now is vastly
different mainly because of the financial crisis. It seems that, at
a stroke, the Asian financial crisis threatens the geo economic
stability directly as well as the geo politics and security of the
region. Moreover, the economic crisis in East Asia has also im-
pacted negatively on both the political and social stability of
the countries in the region. One of the worst hit countries in
this regard in Northeast Asia in South Korea, but the countries
suffering the worst effects are in Southeast Asian. Indonesia,
in particular, has experienced the severest shocks to its national
economic, political, and social life. Unfortunately, the financial
crisis which began there by July 1997 quickly turned into a gen-
eral economic crisis, and from that it transformed into political
and social crisis. Student demonstrations in response to the eco-
nomic crisis directly caused the resignation of President
Soeharto by May 1998, who was succeeded by B.J. Habibie.
More generally, social protests and riots, which were, met with
brutal police repression, resulted in the loss of many lives. In
November 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid was democratically
elected President of the Republic of Indonesia with Megawati
Sukarnoputri as Vicepresident. This marked the beginning of
Indonesia’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy.
He is fully aware of these shortcomings and tried to over-
come the deep political and economic crisis have been left by
the previous government, but the problem remains unre-
solved. The government is faced with an enormous task and
demands on all front, economic, political, social and even

83