The Story Of Prabowo Subianto Bujuk Amien Rais Stops The 1998 Mass Action Intention

Amien Rais Kerap gave support to Prabowo Subianto, including in his candidacy as President of Indonesia. (Twitter/@Prabowo)

JAKARTA - Political interests are above all in the power of Suharto and the New Order (Orba). The people became victims of society. Moreover, the military has always been loyal to perpetuate Suharto's wishes. A new change occurred when Indonesia was hit by a storm of 1997-1998 economic recession.

People who are usually silent accompanied Suharto's resignation. Political figure Amien Rais, let alone. He wanted to launch a siege of the State Palace. However, the action was not carried out thanks to the lobbying of Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto.

Suharto's leadership as the number one person in Indonesia once brought fresh air. He is considered capable of bringing Indonesia to a better direction than the Old Order era. In fact, Suharto's leadership was not much different.

The freedom of expression that is aspired to the New Order government never happened. Anyone who dares to criticize, surely his political steps will be turned off. Moreover, the military is ready to be behind Suharto.

Everything changed when the storm of the 1997-1998 economic recession reached Indonesia. All Indonesian people can no longer stand the behavior of political elites who are insensitive to the situation. The continued corruption, especially.

This condition is inversely proportional to the increasingly difficult conditions of the Indonesian people. Economic recession makes the livelihoods of the Indonesian people short. The rupiah exchange rate fell to its lowest level. All sectors were affected. As a result, jobs began to be unavailable and purchasing power decreased.

How bad the condition of the Indonesian economy is like an airplane that is experiencing a super stall (sharp) due to a loss of lift). I have to use my strength to use the instrument so that the aircraft can turn quickly to prevent it from spreading to earth (in the form of hyperinflation).

Now the plane that almost fell to earth has flown in a horizontal position. So don't push the pilot seat. Don't force other people to take it. Don't do that, because the pilot has acted properly. I took three years to fly the plane to an altitude. But I don't want to sell soy sauce," said the Minister of Research and Technology, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, describing the impact of recession as quoted by A. Makmur Makka in the book The True Life of Habibie (2008).

The economic recession has angered the group of students and opposition figures of the New Order. They considered Suharto's leadership to be a disaster for all Indonesian people if his leadership continued. The anger was later vented by the presence of a series of mass actions in early 1998.

Demonstrations demanding Suharto get out of the presidency appeared in various parts of the archipelago. All elements of society combined with students took to the streets. They include being lecturers, religiousists, students, and artists.

Indonesian political figure, Amien Rais is also not left behind. He became one of the most prominent figures in promoting mass action. He was able to invite all kinds of elements of society to join the massive demonstration.

The goal is none other than so that Suharto stepped down and the reform era could take place. This is because Suharto's authoritarian leadership often creates political turmoil. Amien Rais also used charisma to plan a massive demonstration to occupy the Merdeka Palace on May 20, 1998.

The demonstration was designed by Amien Rais by utilizing the spirit of National Awakening Day. The echo of the demonstration that was launched also made the government dizzy. The power-owner immediately designed a strategy to face the pace of the demonstration.

Pangkostrad, Prabowo Subianto (now: Indonesian Minister of Defense 2019-2024) also heard about the plan. However, he was not afraid of the mass action carried out by Amien Rais. He was actually worried about the presence of other forces who wanted to take advantage of Amien Rais as a martyr to be killed to replace Suharto's leadership. Similar to the Bolshevik Revolution (Soviet Union: Russia) 1917, he thought.

He immediately went to his friend, Amien Rais, who happened to be one of the initiators of the mass action. Prabowo explained that the action could lead to disaster. He also didn't think long. Prabowo's advice was immediately agreed by Amien Rais.

He immediately moved to cancel the massive mass action at dawn WIB on May 20, 1998. Then, Prabowo was exposed to sap due to his meeting with Amien Rais. The meeting made Prabowo and the Cendana family's relationship a distance, especially since Suharto stepped down on May 21, 1998. Meanwhile, Prabowo and Amien Rais are familiar after the reform era.

To block the mass speed, the security forces have prepared barbed wire on the entrances to Monas and placed tanks that are ready to dispel the crowd that will enter Monas as well as live ammunition like Tiananmen (China). Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto met Amien Rais at Hotel Regent on May 19, 1998 at 16:00 WIB. Among other things, asking Amien Rais to cancel the mass action because it was dangerous.

"They agreed that the reform process must run constitutionally. This means that if President Suharto resigns, the Vice President replaces it, Amien Rais' plan has just been canceled on May 20, 1998, using television, after he saw the preparations of the Monas apparatus," said Kivlan Zen in the book Internal Reflection of the Indonesian Army 1945-2021 (2021).