President elect Prabowo Subianto took the opportunity recently to mention the crisis that occurred in 1998. Prabowo said that the government, which was then led by former president Suharto, was in fact already on the right track.
Suharto's former son-in-law said that Indonesia in 1998 had been on the verge of becoming a developed country. But suddenly it collapsed due to foreign intervention.
"We were on the verge of a take-off that was real in 98, on the verge a of take-off, but we were undermined by foreign powers", Prabowo said in a speech at the closing of the 6th National Mandate Party (PAN) Congress at the Kempinski Grand Ballroom in Central Jakarta on Saturday August 24.
Prabowo also said that if there are political elite who do not understand what happened in 1998, then they lack education.
"If there are elites who don't understand 98, I suggest they study it again", he said.
The general chairperson of the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) explained that in 1998, Indonesia was already able to build airplanes. According to Prabowo, Indonesia was in a better state than Turkey and China.
"We were more advanced than Turkey. China did not have a super computer. But Indonesia already had one. Now China has the most super computers, exceeding the United States", said Prabowo.
Prabowo said he would soon be inaugurated as president on October 20. He invited all of the political party coalitions, especially PAN to help him advance Indonesia.
"So sisters and brothers, let's learn, you can create prosperity, Gerindra, PAN, our coalition friends have chosen a cool coalition colour, the blue colour of the sky, which we copied a bit from PAN", said Prabowo, referring to the light blue used by his Indonesia Onward Coalition (KIM).
"Good cheating is allowed", he said.
Notes
Following the fatal shooting of student protesters in Jakarta in May 1998, mass demonstrations and rioting broke out in Jakarta and several other cities in Indonesia, eventually leading to the overthrow of former president Suharto and the fall of the New Order dictatorship. Prabowo, who at the time was the commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), has repeatedly denied accusations that he helped instigate the riots, which left more than a thousand people dead, but has admitted to ordering the abduction of pro-democracy activists, which led to his dismissal from the military.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Prabowo Singgung Krisis 98: Kita di Ambang Tinggal Landas, tapi Dikerjain Asing".]
