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.