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Article: An understated success; Indonesia after Suharto.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 27, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Their former dictator is gravely ill. Indonesians have come a long way since his fall
THE passing of a former dictator sometimes forces a country to take stock of itself. So it is with Suharto, who for 32 years towered over the world's most populous Muslim country. As his life moves peacefully to its close, Indonesians seems baffled about how to think about the old despot. Many millions revere him as the man who saved them from communism and led his country towards prosperity. Many more Indonesians see him as a dictatorial kleptocrat whose family looted the nation, whose goons harassed and tortured dissenters, and who clung stubbornly to power until being forced ...