The New Order Government

Ever since taking office in 1967, the New Order Government of President Soeharto was determined to return constitutional life by upholding the 1945 Constitution in a strict and consistent manner and by respecting Pancasila as the state philosophy and ideology.

To emerge from the political and economic legacy of Soekarno's Old Order, the new government set out to undertake the following:

1. To complete the restoration of order and security and to establish political stability.
2. To carry out economic rehabilitation.
3. To prepare a plan for national development and execute it with the emphasis on economic development.
4. To end confrontation and normalize diplomatic relations with Malaysia.
5. To rejoin to the United Nations, which Indonesia had quit in January 1965.
6. To consistently pursue an independent and active foreign policy.
7. To resolve the West Irian question.
8. To regain Indonesia's economic credibility overseas.
9. To hold general elections once every five years.

Much of the implementation of these policies has been described in the foregoing pages. It remains here to mention some of the more notable achievements of the New Order during the first few years of its existence. Results of national development are presented in this book under the heading "Development Achievements" and are updated each year.

With regard to Malaysia, not only were relations normalized but Indonesia together with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand joined to establish the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On achieving independence in 1984, Brunei Darussalam became the sixth member of ASEAN. In July 1995, Vietnam was accepted as the seventh member of this regional organization. The objective of the association is the establishment of regional cooperation in the economic, social and cultural fields, but ASEAN also operates in the political area.

To prepare for national development, in addition to economic rehabilitation, Indonesia secured an agreement with creditor countries to reschedule an overseas debt of US$5 billion. With the recovery of the country's overseas credibility, Indonesia succeeded in the formation of a consortium of creditor countries to assist in her economic development. This consortium is known as the Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) and includes the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and a number of West-European countries. Its annual meetings are held in Amsterdam under the chairmanship of the Netherlands. Currently, the IGGI has been replaced by the Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI) consisting of the former members of IGGI (except the Netherlands) and five new creditors.