BJ. Habibie

Early life

He was born in Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi; and studied at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

In 1950, when Habibie was fourteen, he became acquainted with Lieutenant Colonel Suharto. The future Indonesian President was then stationed in Makassar to put down a separatist rebellion and lived in a house across the road from the Habibie family's. Suharto quickly became a family friend. He was present during the death of Habibie's father and became an intermediary when one of his soldiers wanted to marry Habibie's sister ^[1].

Time in Germany

During 1955-1965, he studied aerospace engineering at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, receiving Diplom (Germany's First degree certificate which is equivalent to Master in most countries) in 1960 and doctorate in 1965. He then worked for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in Hamburg. It might have been due to his time spent in Europe that made him interested in the Leica line of cameras.

Minister of Technology and Research

In 1974, Suharto sent Ibnu Sutowo to Germany to meet Habibie and convince him to come back to Indonesia. Habibie was convinced and returned to Indonesia, taking the position of Technological Adviser to the President.

From 1978 to 1998 Habibie served as Minister of Technology and Research in Suharto's Cabinet. He pushed for a leapfrog strategy of development, which he hoped would bypass the foundational low-skill technology stages to turn Indonesia into an industrialized nation. Despite national and international opposition (which preferred agricultural investments to technological investments) to this;he once famously announced that "I have some figures which compare the cost of one kilo of airplane compared to one kilo of rice. One kilo of airplane costs thirty thousand US dollars and one kilo of rice is seven cents. And if you want to pay for your one kilo of high-tech products with a kilo of rice, I don't think we have enough. ^[2]."

Habibie had considerable power as Minister of Technology. His long acquaintance with Suharto combined with Suharto's own desire that Indonesia master technology as part of its development meant that Habibie was able to get extra fundings from the budget for his projects at the expense of other ministers' project. In 1989, Suharto increased Habibie's power, putting him in charge of strategic industries.

In 1994, Habibie wanted to buy 39 warships from the former East Germany. Habibie expected the battleships to be sold for $1 Billion and wanted that amount of money to buy it ^[3]. The then Minister of Finance, Mar'ie Muhammad disagreed, expecting the old warships to be sold for less than that. A dispute ensued but Habibie, being closer to Suharto, got his wish. The Government took offense when this dispute, along with the news that one of the warships sunk en route to Indonesia, was covered by some parts of the Media. An order was dispatched banning the publications of famous magazines Tempo, Detik, and Editor.

Aviation industry

When Habibie came back to Indonesia in 1974, he was also made CEO of a new State Owned Enterprise called PT. Nurtanio. By the early 1980's it had made considerable progress, specializing in making helicopters and small passenger planes. In 1995, Habibie succeeded in flying a N-250 (dubbed Gatotkoco) commuter plane.

In developing Indonesia's Aviation Industry, Habibie adopted an approach called "Begin at the End and End at the Beginning" ^[4]. In this method, things such as basic research became the last things that the workers at IPTN focused on while actual manufacturing of the planes was placed as the first objective.

In 1985, PT. Nurtanio changed its name to Indonesian Aviation Industry (IPTN) and is now known as Indonesian Aerospace Inc. (Dirgantara).

Union of Indonesian Intellectual Muslims (ICMI)

By the late 80's, it became apparent that there was a rift between Suharto and his main political ally, ABRI. Suharto, who had repressed Islamists in the earlier years of his regime now began to make concilliatory gestures in a bid to build a new power base to compensate the one he was losing with ABRI.

In December 1990, the ICMI was formed with Habibie as its Chairman. In Suharto's eyes, ICMI would become his main weapon in appealing to the Muslim society. ICMI was a successful venture, by 1994, it had 20,000 members including future political opponents such as Nurcolish Majid and Amien Rais ^[5].

Habibie served as Chairman of ICMI for 10 years.

Member of Golkar

Like all Government officials in Suharto's regime, Habibie was a member of Golkar.

From 1993-1998, Habibie held the position of Day to Day Administrator for the Chairman of the Executive Board.

Vice presidency

The 1998 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) General Session was to be held in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis and many were hoping for Suharto to take serious steps to take the country out of trouble. In January 1998, after accepting nomination for a 7th term as President, Suharto announced the criteria for the person who he wanted as Vice President. Suharto did not mention Habibie by name but his suggestion that the next Vice President should have mastery over science and technology made it obvious who he wanted to nominate ^[6]. The market reacted badly, causing the rupiah to further depreciate in value.

Despite protests and former Minister Emil Salim trying to nominate himself as Vice President, Habibie was elected as Vice President in March 1998.

Presidency

Rise to office

By May 1998, the increasing poverty caused by the Financial Crisis and political discontent had reached boiling point. On 13th May, the shooting of six students at Trisakti University in Jakarta, caused extreme anger which in turn caused widespread riots and lootings. There were now explicit calls for Suharto to step down as President of Indonesia. Suharto responded by saying on 19 May 1998 that if he stepped down, the Vice President would become President and in a not too subtle jab to Habibie, said that he was not sure whether the Vice President could solve the problems facing the country ^[7].

Habibie, who learned of Suharto's comments from TV, was upset with his mentor and from then on was increasingly sympathetic to those who wanted Suharto to step down. While careful not to oppose him directly or support those who did, Habibie left the president in little doubt that he saw himself as Suharto's legitimate successor. Suharto, faced with dwindling civilian and military support, even among loyalists like Wiranto and Ginandjar Kartasasmita, decided to resign late on the evening of 20 May 1998. ^[8]

The next morning, on 21 May 1998, Suharto publicly announced his resignation and Habibie was immediately sworn in as President. There was mixed reaction to Habibie's assumption of the Presidency. Hardline reformists saw Habibie as an extension of Suharto's regime while moderate reformists saw him as leading a transitional Government.

With the release of his 2006 book, Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy), there is speculation that Suharto had wanted Habibie to resign along with him. ^[9] In Javanese style, Suharto hinted at this intention subtly. Habibie, who isn't Javanese, didn't take the hint and decided to take the office of the President. Because of this inability to read his intentions, Suharto showed nothing but contempt and never talked to Habibie again.

Cabinet

Habibie's Cabinet, which was called the Development Reform Cabinet consisted mostly of the same faces which had served in Suharto's last Cabinet. To show his reformist bent, Habibie included United Development Party (PPP) member Hamzah Haz in the Cabinet.

Political reforms

As President, Habibie undertook numerous political reforms.

In February 1999, Habibie's Government passed the Political Parties Law.^[10] Under this law, political parties were not limited to just three as had been the case under the Suharto regime. Political parties were also not required to have Pancasila as their ideology. This resulted in the emergence of many political parties and 48 would go on to compete in the 1999 Legislative Election.

In May 1999, Habibie's Government passed the Regional Autonomy Law.^[11] This law was the first step in decentralizing Indonesia's Government and in allowing Provinces to have more part in Governing their Province.

The Press became liberated under Habibie's Government although the Ministry of Information continued to exist.

Habibie also released political prisoners such as Sri Bintang Pamungkas, Muchtar Pakpahan, and Xanana Gusmao.

Habibie also presided over the 1999 Legislative Elections, the first free election since the 1955 Legislative Election. This election was supervised by the independent General Elections Commission (KPU) instead of an elections commission filled with Government ministers as had been the case during Suharto's regime.