Ginandjar Kartasasmita's Account of the Meeting of 14 Suharto Ministers and the Issue of "Defection"
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance, and Industry (Menko Ekuin) Ginandjar Kartasasmita has revealed the story of the meeting of 14 ministers from the Seventh Development Cabinet on 20 May 1998.
The meeting, held at the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) office, is often cited as one of the moments that led to the resignation of Indonesia’s second president, Suharto, on 21 May 1998, or one day after the meeting.
Ginandjar dismissed the notion that the meeting resulted in a decision for all 14 ministers to resign en masse from Suharto’s cabinet.
The outcome of the deliberations was a request for the President to promptly find a way out to prevent the country from collapsing, which was formalised in a letter intended to be delivered to Suharto.
In fact, Ginandjar stated that in the letter, the 14 ministers did not express refusal to join the Reform Committee or the reshuffled Reform Cabinet and did not demand Suharto’s resignation.
“So the stance of these ministers was that Mr Harto should find a way out. We didn’t say resign, right? Just find a way out, find a way to resolve the problem,” said Ginandjar in the Gaspol! Kompas.com podcast, quoted on Thursday (14/5/2026).
The ministers also considered a similar issue that occurred with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
Marcos was ousted from office through a people’s revolution due to a deteriorating economy, rampant corruption, and severe human rights violations.
He and his family then had to flee and go into exile in Hawaii, United States (US).
Ginandjar did not deny that maintaining power at that time was highly unlikely.
This was because Suharto’s legitimacy was increasingly declining, particularly when the chairman of the People’s Representative Council (DPR)/People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) of the Republic of Indonesia, Harmoko, asked him to resign.
Moreover, the ranks of demonstrating students had already approached Jalan Cendana, the residence of Suharto and his family.