Former Indonesian President Suharto, who died Sunday, will be remembered as a leader who brought stability to a nation comprising numerous ethnic groups and sparked an economic takeoff. But at the same time, Indonesia's 200 million people and the world will not forget his autocratic rule and its record of military repression, human rights violations and large-scale corruption.
In October 1965, he led the army against what was officially called an abortive leftist coup. Some 500,000 communist sympathizers are said to have been killed. He effectively took control from the nation founder Sukarno in March 1966 and became acting president in March 1967 and president in March 1968.
Mr. Suharto scrapped his predecessor's anti-U.S. policy and switched to an anticommunist, pro-U.S. policy. Under his free market policy, Indonesia pushed industrialization and became the leader of the region. But under his rule, the Indonesian army invaded East Timor. Also, many antigovernment people were killed and opposition politicians disappeared. In sum, Mr. Suharto's Indonesia failed to achieve a true democracy.