Chronology of recent major events
Chronology of recent major events
JAKARTA (JP): This is the chronology of major events leading
up to yesterday's announcement by Harmoko, speaker of the House
of Representatives and chairman of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR), that he will ask President Soeharto to resign.
Not all student demonstrations are mentioned here since they have
been taking place almost daily since March.
March 9: MPR chairman Harmoko and his deputies -- Lt. Gen.
Syarwan Hamid of the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction, Abdul Gafur of
Golkar, Fatimah Achmad of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
and Ismail Hasan Metareum of the United Development Party (PPP)
-- ask Soeharto to serve as president for the 1998/2003 period.
March 11: Soeharto and B.J. Habibie take oath of office as
president and vice president respectively.
March 14: Soeharto forms new cabinet.
April 4: Education minister Wiranto Arismunandar bans
demonstrations on campuses. The ban is largely ignored.
April 15: Soeharto tells students to go back to class and stop
protesting. The appeal is ignored.
April 18: ABRI chief Gen. Wiranto and 14 cabinet members hold
a dialog with students and government critics. Most student
leaders boycott the event. Wiranto says reform must be gradual.
April 19: Amien Rais, leader of the Muhammadiyah, says student
demonstrations have reached the point of no return.
May 1: Soeharto says reform must wait until 2003.
May 2: Soeharto says he welcomes reform now.
May 4: The government hikes fuel prices by up to 70 percent.
Riots erupt in Medan. Two people are killed.
May 5: House Speaker Harmoko seizes reform initiative, but
rejects calls for extraordinary session of the MPR, saying there
is not enough grounds to call for one.
May 7: ABRI chief Gen. Wiranto says the military is working on
reform and rejects calls for extraordinary session of MPR.
May 8: House rejects fuel price hikes.
May 9: Soeharto flies to Cairo for a G-15 summit, appealing to
the nation to preserve stability.
An activist dies in Yogyakarta during a rowdy protest. A
police officer is pelted to death in Bogor, reportedly by
students.
House Deputy Speaker Syarwan Hamid says demands to replace
Soeharto "does not reflect" the views of the majority of people.
May 12: Four students of Trisakti University are shot dead by
security forces during a peaceful demonstration demanding reform.
May 13: Four Trisakti students are buried, and unofficially
declared "heroes of reformation". Minor riot breaks out in
Jakarta.
May 14: A newspaper quotes Soeharto in Cairo as saying that he
is ready to resign.
Massive riots erupt in Jakarta, about 500 people, mostly
looters, die trapped inside burning shopping malls.
May 15: Soeharto returns from Cairo, denies ever saying he was
ready to stand down, but adds that he will do so if the people no
longer have trust in him.
Unrest spreads to Surabaya, Yogyakarta and other towns.
The government cuts fuel and electricity prices.
May 16: Soeharto says he will reshuffle the cabinet. Says he
is willing to lengser keprabon (abdicate) by constitutional
means.
May 18: Harmoko, in his capacity as House speaker, asks
Soeharto to resign for the sake of the national unity.