Political Policies of Indonesia

   The New Orders government essence was far different than the Sukarno’s era. During the New Order, it was a military-backed authoritarian regime that did not respect human rights. Politics and economics were basically taken away from the public and kept within a small elite around Suharto. Though, as Indonesians became more educated due to increasing social developments, its educated circles naturally wanted to let their voice heard and participate in politics as well as the economy. However, this political standstill caused a lot of frustration in a large part of Indonesia’s population.

   The New Order was also based on a system of nepotism and corruption in which a small group around Suharto. This small group consisted mainly of ethnic Chinese business partners. Related to this political system, the financial system had begun to run out of control after the deregulation measures in the banking sector in the late 1980s. by hacing restrictions to open banks and branches it became more and more difficult to monitor the money flows within the Indonesian banking system, which contributed to the Asian financial crisis.