Habibie, B. J. (1936-2019), was president of Indonesia from May 1998 to October 1999. He succeeded Suharto, who had served as president for 32 years. Habibie was a lifelong friend of Suharto’s and had been a trusted adviser for many years.
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie was born in the city of Parepare in South Sulawesi province on June 25, 1936. In 1948, his family moved to Makassar. One of the family’s neighbors was a young military commander named Suharto. After Habibie’s father died, Suharto became a mentor and father figure to Habibie.
Habibie earned a Ph.D. degree in aeronautical engineering from the Aachen Institute of Technology in Aachen, in what was then West Germany, in 1965. He worked as an engineer at Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, a German aircraft company. Suharto became Indonesia’s president in 1968. In 1974, Suharto asked Habibie to return to Indonesia as an adviser on technology industries. In 1978, Suharto appointed Habibie as minister for research and technology, a position he held until 1998.
In 1998, Suharto chose Habibie as his presidential running mate. Suharto won the election, which was held in March, and Habibie became vice president. At the time, Indonesia was suffering one of the worst financial slumps in its history. Protests against Suharto for his handling of this crisis led him to resign on May 21. Habibie then became president.
As president, Habibie instituted a number of reforms. For instance, he relaxed government controls over the press, unions, and political parties. In many voters’ minds, however, he was still closely associated with Suharto’s rule. Indonesia held parliamentary elections in June 1999. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle won more seats than Habibie’s Golkar federation. In October, the new parliament chose Abdurrahman Wahid as president. Abdurrahman took office on October 20. After leaving the presidency, Habibie founded the Habibie Center, a political research institute located in Jakarta. Habibie died on Sept. 11, 2019, in Jakarta.
