President Soeharto who had led Indonesia for 32 years without being deterred, on May 21, 1998, was forced to resign from the post of President of Indonesia. This event marked the end of the new order, as well as the start of the reform order.
President Suharto was forced to leave the presidency by one of the students' actions for failing to bring Indonesia out of the economic crisis. The new order is considered to be fraught with problems, so it must be replaced by a reform order.
However, it turned out that after 20 years of reforms beyond the public expectation, it is considered that President Soeharto is the most successful figure in leading Indonesia. This is reflected from the survey conducted by Indo Barometer involving 1,200 respondents.
The executive director of Indo Barometer Muhammad Qodari as quoted by kompas.com (20/05/18) stated that the survey results showed that 32.9 percent chose Soeharto as the most successful president of Indonesia, and Soekarno came second with 21.3 percent .
Furthermore Qodari as reported by kompas.com (20/05/18) stated that in third position, there are president Joko Widodo (17.8 percent), followed by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (11.6 percent). Next, the fifth position of B.J. Habibie (3.5 percent), sixth position Abdurrahman Wahid (1.7 percent) and last Megawati Soekarnoputri (0.6 percent).
Indo Barometer survey results that put President Soeharto as president who considered the most successful public, becomes irony. Because Suharto was forced to leave the presidency about 20 years ago because it was considered failed to bring Indonesia out of the crisis and KKN trap.
Whether this can be read as an indication of public disappointment over the ideals of reform. Reform should be an anti-thesis that corrects all the weaknesses of the new order.
Any problems surrounding the New Order include economic problems and KKN should be the main agenda addressed by the reform order. However, after 20 years of reform of economic improvement and the eradication of KKN even further away from expectations.
Reform should ensure that Indonesia moves in a better direction. The results of this survey can be used as a reflection as well as correction for the government of President Jokowi to ensure the ideals of reform became a reality.
The government must convince the public that after 20 years Indonesia's reforms will not fall into the abyss of the economic crisis like 1998. The government must also ensure that the economic development policy is in the right "ring" with a view to the people's welfare.
In addition, the government's heavy work now is the eradication of Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism. If it fails, then it is natural that the public will actually embrace the new order better than the order of reform.
Well, UCers friend, does the economy and the eradication of KKN have shown progress? Let's discuss, please write your answers in the comments field below.