Suharto re-elected

Suharto re-elected

In February 1998 Gen Wiranto became the new head of the armed forces and Suharto's 46-year-old son-in-law became commander of the Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). President Suharto was elected to his seventh five-year term in early March 1998; he was the only candidate. He remained opposed to the economic reforms demanded by his critics and supported by the IMF. IMF officials were seeking to salvage the economic bail-out programme, a move particularly important in the context of food shortages and rising prices throughout the country. It was feared that Suharto's failure to agree with the IMF's terms might pose a grave risk to Indonesia's economic and political stability. The specially vetted People's Consultative Assembly
restored to Suharto the emergency powers he had relinquished in 1993. Bucharuddin Jusuf Habibie, the minister of research and technology, a long-time favourite of Suharto with a reputation for favouring state involvement in industry and links with Muslim intellectuals, was appointed vice-president. Suharto appointed a new cabinet in March 1998, which was dominated by a combination of economic nationalists and cronies, including his daughter as welfare minister, and his golfing partner as trade and industry minister.