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Indonesia declares week-long mourning

SINGAPORE: The former Indonesian President Suharto, controversial for most part during his long years in power and thereafter, passed away at a hospital in Jakarta on Sunday, prompting his daughter to apologise for the “mistakes” he committed at the helm. People’s forgiveness was sought in an emotional gesture to his many critics.

The 86-year-old Suharto, widely known by this singular name in line with a Javanese practice, died of multiple organ failure after battling for life for over three weeks.

A week-long national mourning was declared. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who asked his compatriots to pray for the departed leader, will attend his state funeral at Solo in Central Java on Monday.

Suharto, who resigned as President in mid-1998 in the face of a popular uprising for reforms, ruled over Indonesia from March 1966, when he, as an army commander, threatened to use military force and acquired executive authority from then President Sukarno, the near-iconic architect of Indonesia’s “guided democracy.”

Regional diplomats point out that Suharto’s path to power and long reign were characterised by authoritarian politics and human rights abuses. His one-time success at creating political stability and an economic miracle was in the end smeared by allegations of massive corruption as also nepotism and social inequities.

At one stage after his downfall, the authorities considered him too ill to stand trial, even as the popular clamour for justice on counts of corruption and human rights abuses gained momentum.

Suharto’s mixed record covered not only the economic boom that later burst as a bubble but also his “New Order” that was built on a brutal suppression of the Communist Party of Indonesia; the invasion and annexation of East Timor, which broke free not long after his fall from power; his pivotal role in the formation of the Association of South East Asian Nations 40 years ago; and his political swings from a pro-West position to a non-aligned stance.

AP reports:

Asian leaders paid tribute to Suharto with mixed feelings for a man who helped modernise his country but ruled it with an iron fist.

Current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his deep sorrow and asked people to pray for Suharto, labelling him “a great leader.”

In Malaysia, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Suharto’s passing was a great loss. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda recalled Suharto’s efforts to maintain friendly relations between his country and Indonesia.

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