Indonesia's Six Years of Living Dangerously

For Indonesia, the years 1998 to 2004 were a period of political travail. Presidents Habibie, Gus Dur and Megawati, whose regimes spanned this period, succumbed to the perils of running a huge country with a complex political environment, each in a characteristic way. But what brought all of them down was hubis, the inability to see where their ignorance of the truth and reality of their politics would finally lead them. The Trojan Horse for each was the military, who wages an indefatigable battle to keep its power and Indonesia's unity intact. It can be hope that President Yudhoyono, a retired general, will not make the same mistakes as his predecessors. His first move was to use his Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's influence to win a majority in Parliament. Mr Jusuf was subsequently elected to the chairmanship of the powerful Golkar party.