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Public discussion in the Leiden Lecture Series on “Two Decades Post Indonesian Government Reform”

The Leiden University alumni discussed the last 20 years of post-Soeharto era in Universitas Airlangga last Friday.

The distinguished speakers we have today are expert researchers in their respective fields. First speaker is Dr. Myrna Safitri (Peatland Restoration Agency and Founder of Epistema) recounting how land and natural resources were regulated during the New Order and how this has changed during the last 20 years.

Dr. Herlambang P. Wiratraman shared his experiences during May 1998 when student activists gathered in Jakarta, urging Soeharto to step down. He stresses however that the movement also came from grassroot level, most notably but least recognized from farmers (petani) and labourers (buruh) who had experienced injustice for more than 30 years.

Today, violence still exists in Indonesia but now on a decentralised level where transactional politics flourishes, causing partisan media enterprises, privatized gangsterism, and corruption. 

UGM historian, Dr. Abdul Wahid identifies three crises in Indonesia from 1945-1998. The 1998 monetary crisis hit the country hard including the oligarchy of the New Order. Through the years, he argues that such oligarchs still exists. Although they have changed in shapes and colours they still hold firm in the political system in Indonesia.

As a result of the Reformation, Islamic politics has found ways to instill Islamic regulations in the government according Dr. Yanwar Pribadi. The 449 new local regulations on syariah in the period of 1998-2013 prove how complicated the relation between state and religion had been, after the arrival of democracy. However, the peaceful character of ‘Islam nusantara’ has shown to be most effective to accomodate Indonesia’s diversity.

Read the summary here and see you in the next Leiden Lecture Series.

https://tirto.id/pasca-orde-baru-masih-banyak-akademisi-di-…

https://www.voaindonesia.com/a/refleksi-dua-de…/4377440.html