Abstract
Since seizing power more than three decades ago, Suharto's military-backed regime has stifled every attempt to organise opposition. Now his 'New Order' government, and the country as a whole, is reaping the results.
Angry crowds are out in the streets burning and looting because there are simply no viable political organisations for people to turn to in order to vent their intense frustrations about the collapsing economy.
In Thailand and South Korea, the economic crisis saw old governments voted out and new reformist governments elected.
This has been impossible in Indonesia because Suharto has built a political system in which power is concentrated almost completely in his own hands.