Abdurrahman Wahid

Abdurrahman Wahid, born in 1940, president of the Republic of Indonesia (1999-2001), an Islamic leader who became Indonesia’s first freely elected president after 30 years of authoritarian rule under President Suharto.

Born on the Indonesian island of Java, Wahid studied to become an Islamic cleric at the University of Baghdād in Iraq and the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt. Wahid came from an influential family in Indonesia. In 1926 his grandfather founded Nahdlatul Ulama—now Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization with about 40 million members—and his father was a government minister. In 1984 Wahid became head of Nahdlatul Ulama. The position afforded him considerable sway in Indonesia, where 87 percent of the population is Muslim. Wahid used his influence to be a moderate voice in Indonesian society, defending the rights of Indonesia’s ethnic and religious minorities. Wahid nevertheless believed that Indonesia’s government should remain secular, a view that put him at odds with some of Indonesia’s other Islamic leaders.

In mid-1998 Indonesian president Suharto resigned following widespread pro-democracy demonstrations and was replaced by his vice president, Baharuddin Jusuf (“B. J.”) Habibie, who arranged to hold presidential elections the following year. Leading up to the 1999 parliamentary elections, Wahid, a member of the National Awakening Party, was initially considered a long shot. However, his presidential bid in the People’s Consultative Assembly received a boost when Habibie withdrew from the race. Wahid demonstrated his political skills by winning the backing of enough Habibie supporters to defeat the favored candidate, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia’s founding president. In a conciliatory gesture, Wahid worked to ensure that Megawati, his onetime ally and a widely popular figure, became his vice president.

Upon taking office, Wahid was faced with the dual challenge of establishing democratic rule and saving Indonesia’s failing economy. Wahid pledged to stamp out corruption and to reform the government. He also called for foreign investment to help rebuild the country’s economy, which was severely battered in the Asian currency crisis of 1997. Wahid also faced challenges posed by separatist movements within Indonesia’s regions, as East Timor moved toward independence and nationalist movements gained momentum in the province of Irian Jaya (now Papua) and the special region of Aceh.

Wahid became embroiled in two multimillion-dollar corruption scandals in mid-2000. Although an investigative inquiry did not prove any involvement by Wahid, the scandals fueled growing frustrations over his government’s failure to improve Indonesia’s social and economic problems. In 2001 the House of Representatives delivered two separate censures against Wahid alleging corruption and incompetence. It then voted to begin impeachment hearings in August. In late July Wahid attempted to hold onto power by issuing an emergency decree to dissolve the legislature, but military officials refused to enforce his decree. The People’s Consultative Assembly, Indonesia’s supreme legislative body, immediately held an emergency session and voted to remove Wahid from office.