The Reformation (in bahasa Indonesia Reformasi) is the name commonly used for the present era in the history of Indonesia. This is due to a more open and liberal political and social environment in Indonesia after the Revolution of 1998 forced the resignation of the authoritarian President Suharto, ending the three decades of the New Order period.
The Reformation period has been characterized by a careful political balance between long established sociopolitical norms and several emerging forces in Indonesian society. These balancing acts have produced compromises between those backing greater democracy and civilian rule and the interests of the still powerful military of Indonesia; between the growing force of Islamism and the desire to maintain secular government; between demands for greater regional autonomy and supporters of the older centralized state; and between the economic ideologies and policies of neoliberalism and the those of the welfare state.
The process of Reformation in Indonesia, much like that of glasnost in the former Soviet Union, has also been characterized by greater freedom of speech in marked contrast with the censorship of the New Order-era. In the political sphere this has led to a more open political debate in the de-regulated news media, as well as a flowering of cultural expression in the arts.
In addition to longstanding political and cultural debates, Indonesia in the Reformation period has been shaped by a number of events and phenomena of global significance. These have included the growing attentions of the Western world on Indonesia since the Islamic terrorism following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and challenges in dealing with the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004.
Revolution of 1998
The Revolution of 1998 lead to subsequent changes and reformation of Indonesia's various governmental institutions, reforms upon the structures of the judicial, legislative, and executive. Several changes to heads of state occurred, the latest being Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (popularly known as SBY).
Generally the fall of Suharto in 1998 is traced from events starting in 1996 with the gathering of dissent around Megawati Sukarnoputri in the PDI. Suharto attempted to have Megawati removed, and had the headquarters of PDI occupied. This culminated in Black Saturday on July 27th.
Suharto's grip on power began to fade, under external economic pressure, the failure of the military to secure victory in East Timor and internal dissent and rioting have all been cited as factors which led to a gradual belief that Golkar could no longer rule the country alone. Riots targeted ethnic Chinese-Indoneisans, and according to an investigation, these had been instigated or aided by the military. In the wake of this investigation, the US withdrew its support for Suharto, who fell when one of his own Generals, Wiranto told him that the military no longer supported Suharto's continued rule.
Earthquake & Tsunami of 2004
It had only been the second month of SBY when the Boxing Day Tsunami happened.
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