1992 Indonesian legislative election

Following the events of the 30 September Movement, and the rise of Suharto, Indonesia came under what would become known as the New Order. The first election under Suharto's New Order regime took place in 1971, and saw the Golkar organization, a federation of Non-governmental organizations which was transformed it into a political vehicle, winning an absolute majority. In 1973, the parties were reorganized into just three, Suharto's Golkar, the Islamist United Development Party (PPP), and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Throughout the rest of the New Order elections, Golkar continuously won elections, defeating both the PPP and the PDI. Under the leadership of Sudharmono, Golkar reached its then peak electorally, when it won more than 72% of the popular vote. But cracks were beginning to show, as division grew between its civil and bureaucratic wing and its military wing under the Indonesian National Armed Forces (ABRI). In 1988, Wahono became chairman of Golkar due to support from the military, the first time in which ABRI demonstrated their political power against Suharto.[1][2]

The PPP was founded in 1973, after a merger of a collection of Islamic and Islamist political parties. The party suffered through internal struggles in the 1970s, but managed to become the main opposition to the New Order, putting up a heavy fight against Golkar in the 1977 and 1982 legislative elections. But by 1987, following the withdrawal of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) from the party, its vote share had started to fall.[lower-alpha 2] The PDI was formed in 1973, as a merger of five different political parties. Throughout the history of the party, the PDI was faction-ridden and riven with personality disputes. Following chaos at the third party congress, which failed to select a party chairman, the politician Suryadi was appointed chairman by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Though his nomination was controversial, he nevertheless led the PDI in the 1992 elections.[lower-alpha 3]

In the run up to the election, the PPP worked hard to position itself as a party that was not extreme in its outlook, and that was not an opposition force, in an effort to bring about an open and participative political culture in which the party would play a more meaningful political role. Long before the election campaign, the PPP had decided on President Suharto as its presidential candidate for the 1993-1998 term.[3][4] Since its 1996 Congress, the PDI had striven to increase party unity and put an end to the internal party conflict within the party. It tried to position itself as the party of the "little people" to take advantage of public dissatisfaction. It also tried to portray itself as the most nationalistic party and raised issues such as social inequality and emphasized its anti-foreign aid stance.[5][6] The party also began to appear more vocal in parliament, which was demonstrated during the debate on the 1992 national budget.[7] Golkar had its share of internal problems, mainly caused by the fact it was a more complex organization than the two political parties, resulting in sometimes poor coordination between the center and the branches in provinces such as Riau, West Kalimantan, and North Sulawesi. It also faced demands for more openness and to respect human rights.[8][5]

Golkar Campaigner appearing in front of a crowd at Hatta Square, Palembang, South Sumatra

Under the leadership of Wahono, who had been elected chairman of Golkar in the 1988 Golkar National Conference,[9] Golkar's largest challenge ahead of the 1992 elections, was in retaining its large 73.11% victory it had received in 1987. Its biggest threat to accomplishing this goal was the PDI, under the leadership of Suryadi, which had begun to increasingly use the symbols of former president Sukarno to gain support.[10] Golkar's 1992 campaign began with a kick-off rally in Surabaya, East Java, to excite and get out the vote for Golkar. During the campaign, Golkar mainly campaigned on stability and the economy, with party spokesman and former party vice chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja arguing that it was difficult to bring about change without risking the unity of the nation, and that the priority of the nation should be to build a strong economic basis.[11]

Another party spokesman, Sudomo, said that the priorities of Golkar for the next five years were to improve quality in all aspects by developing human resources, to fight against the excesses of deviations from development such as corruption and illegal levies, to build openness and Pancasila democracy together with legal certainty, and to persuade president Suharto to stand for the presidency for another five-year term.[12] Golkar ended its campaign on 3 June 1992, with a rally in Surabaya, East Java, where the campaign had previously been launched.[13]

United Development Party campaign, 1992

At the beginning of the PPP's campaign in Jakarta on 10 May, senior party official Djufrie Asmoredjo again stated that the PPP would nominate Suharto for the presidency, with General Try Sutrisno as his deputy. On the same day, PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum said that the party would work to improve the lot of the disadvantaged by building a pro-people economy and bringing about social justice.[14] On 29 May, he said the PPP must win a majority of the vote in Jakarta, and reminded supporters to vote for the party.[15] Ending the party's campaign in Semarang on 3 June, secretary general Matori Abdul Djalil read a five-part political statement calling on people to use their vote and saying that Pancasila was the only basis for society.[16]

PDI chairman Suryadi campaigning to a crowd of supporters during a PDI rally

Throughout the history of the party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) was faction-ridden and riven with personality disputes. Following chaos at the third party congress, which failed to select a party chairman, the politician Suryadi was appointed chairman by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Though his nomination was controversial, he nevertheless led the PDI in the 1992 elections.

During the 1992 campaign itself, Suryadi was to have said that the election was a way of preventing authoritarian government and limiting power of the government. The party also campaigned on imposing term limits on the president,[17][18] tougher sentences for corruption, an end to monopolies, called for the 1985 law on political parties to be amended to allow the political parties to organize down to the village level, and for an end to the practice of closing down publications which criticized the government. The PDI ended its campaign with a massive rally in Jakarta, reportedly with several million people attending.[19]

President Suharto places his ballot into the ballot box at TPS 002, Gondangdia Village, Menteng, Central Jakarta, 9 June 1992.

Results showed that the PDI, had the best showing between the three parties.[22] Gaining 16 seats within the DPR, and increasing its share of the popular vote by 4%, mainly from new first time voters.[23] In fact, the PDI gained in almost every single province, with the exception of Jakarta, where its vote share fell from 28.4% to 21.8%,[24] and it obtained representatives in all but Central Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and Maluku.[21] The PDI also did especially well in its former strongholds, such as North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Yogyakarta, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and Bali.[24] The rise of the PDI was attributed to rising discontent among the populace with the regime, the party's confrontational statements, credibility, and successful efforts in organizing a grass-roots campaign.[22][25]

The PPP also slightly increased its performance, gaining a single seat overall. The PPP also increased its vote share in Jakarta, replacing the PDI as the second largest party in the capital. This was likely not caused by the PPP's campaign strategy, but instead by the PDI's seemingly vulgar campaign in the capital, which may have driven off moderate voters.[24] The party obtained representatives in all but Lampung, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, East Timor, North Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya.[21]

Both the PPP and PDI raised complaints over alleged irregularities to the General Elections Institution (LPU).[24] Both parties admitted to Golkar being victorious in the election, but charged that their share of the vote would have risen if there hadn't been any fraud.[26] While the PPP still claimed that the election was a success, the PDI "confronted the government head-on" on the issue. During a PDI meeting with the party's provincial leaders, the party decided that "there had been fraud, manipulation, terror, intimidation, and other criminal acts which had very much damaged the Pancasila democratic process". The PDI meeting also accused both the military and president Suharto of manipulating the election against the PDI, although these accusations weren't published by the media at the time.[27]

In response, Indonesian attorney general Singgih promised an investigation into alleged fraud. The police probed over 100 polling sites in Jakarta alone, and Singgih conceded that while there were some mistakes in the election process. However, he maintained that these errors were merely human errors, not actual fraud.[26] Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for politics and security, Sudomo, lashed out against these accusations, and threatened that anyone who undermines the integrity of the election will be put in prison for up to five years.[27] When the PDI claimed to have evidence of voting irregularities, Sudomo wrote it off as 'commonplace' and 'a part of politics'.[28]

The PDI eventually complied, and signed the election results. First at the provincial level and then at the national level. There were some controversies, for example, PDI's Jakarta chairman refused to sign the election results, and stormed off. Though he would eventually sign it after private consultations with general Kentot Harsono. Eventually all 27 provincial branches of the PNI had signed the election results, with Suryadi signing the national election results, and downplaying fraud allegations that the PDI had brought up.[28][29]

Elected president Suharto

Elected vice president Try Sutrisno

Following the legislative election, indirect presidential elections would be held in the People's Consultative Assembly, the national legislature, with the elected members from the legislative branch voting for both the president and vice president. The election saw incumbent president Suharto being easily re-elected to a sixth term, with general Try Sutrisno being elected vice president. Try's nomination as vice president was contentious, as he was nominated by the Indonesian National Armed Forces (ABRI), without the prior consent of Suharto, then vice president Sudharmono, and Try Sutrisno himself. The nomination of Sutrisno was quickly approved by the opposition parties, and shocked by the sudden decision of the armed forces deputies to nominate their candidate without having to wait for the president to nominate his choice for the office, Suharto backed down from any move to restrain them.

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