Regrouping in Indonesian Politics

M G G Pillai The confrontation between the Indonesian army and the Muslim fundamentalist groups has pushed president Suharto into a corner WHEN president Suharto indicated that he would not stand for re-election in 1998, after 33 years in power, the inevitable regrouping of Indonesian politics and pressure groups pitched the armed forces of the republic of Indonesia (ABRI) against the strongest pressure group, the Muslims. This tense but quiet confrontation inevitably paints president Suharto into a corner. But he is still in a better position than his predecessor president Sukarno was in 1965, when ABRI put down a bloody, communist-backed coup in which a million people were massacred and the Parti Komunis Indonesia (PKI) was banned.