Soeharto Dead

Caption
Indonesian soldiers carry the coffin of Suharto during the funeral at Astana Giribangun cemetary in Tawang Mangu, 28 January 2008. Former Indonesian president Suharto was laid to rest with full military honours on 28 January, ending a controversial chapter in the history of the nation he ruled with an iron fist for 32 years. The ex-dictator, whose rule became a byword for rampant corruption and rights abuses despite huge economic progress, was buried in his family mausoleum in the town of Matesih in a state funeral (INDRA HARSAPUTRA)

COLOR OF ASTANA GIRIBANGUN

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Soeharto suffers multiple organ failure: Doctors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president Soeharto has suffered multiple organ failure and has been placed on a ventilator, it was announced Friday evening.

Mardjo Soebiandono, chief of the presidential medical team, said the 86-year-old Soeharto suffered multiple organ failure and was placed on a ventilator after his breathing became fast and shallow.

Earlier, the doctors said that there were signs of infection in his lungs.

"His condition is deteriorating," said Ismoyo, a cardiologist on the team. "It's worse than it was this morning."

Earlier in the day, the Soeharto family said they were focusing on doing everything possible for the health of the critically ill former president.

"We are concentrating on getting father's health back. We haven't even thought about all that legal stuff," Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra told reporters while visiting his father at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Friday afternoon.

Just three hours earlier, dozens of relatives of people who went missing, or were killed or imprisoned during Soeharto's 32-year regime, stood outside the hospital lobby entrance taking turns reading what they called a "Prayer for Soeharto".

"We do hope he gets well soon despite all the things he did," said Suciwati, the wife of assassinated human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. "This is a humane thing despite all the crimes he has committed."

"For the sake of humanitarianism, many people have told us that we should let go of Soeharto and grant him peace in his old age," said the mother of Bernardinus "Wawan" Realino Norma Irawan, an Atma Jaya University student who was among 12 others killed by army bullets during a student rally in 1998, the year that Soeharto stepped down in the midst of a massive uprising and public disorder nationwide.

"However, for the families of human rights violation victims, humanitarianism means the enforcement of truth and justice, and this means that Soeharto still has to face the charges regardless of his condition," said 55-year-old Sumarsih.

Sumarsih and dozens of other members of Solidarity for Families of Victims of Human Rights Violations recited a long list of charges, including the 1965 massacre of communists, a series of unsolved shootings from 1981 to 1985, the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre, 1989 Talangsari Islami sect murders, the Aceh and Papua conflicts and May 1998 riots.

Meanwhile, former People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately clarify Soeharto's legal status.

"We and the nation are left in uncertainty about what will happen next. And I am sure that is the case with Pak Harto as well," said Amien after attending a meeting with the West Sumatra chapter of the National Mandate Party in Padang on Friday.

Amien said Yudhoyono should immediately make a decision to end the situation.

"An 86-year-old person is very fragile. We who are healthy people should think rationally and help resolve the problem," he said.

"People are already tired of the arguments from legal experts about what we should do. We need a breakthrough."

Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital on Friday, Jan. 4, due to a severe edema and anemia. His condition remains critical after eight days of intensive treatment.

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Mysterious message starts row

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As former president Soeharto lies ill in hospital, politicians and political experts are trying to decipher a message he reportedly sent to Megawati Soekarnoputri instructing her to "take care of the nation".

"I think it's all right for Soeharto to entrust Megawati to continue taking care of this country," former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso said as quoted by detik.com news portal on Friday. "It's natural for him to ask Megawati to do so, especially since he was formerly president of Indonesia."

Sutiyoso said the 2009 presidential election would be a direct presidential election by the Indonesian people, and "they are smart enough to elect their president by their own choice, not by somebody's words."

Lukman Hakim Saefuddin, chairman for the United Development Party faction at the House of Representatives, said: "I believe that Soeharto understands well that the country has a constitution, which regulates the procedure of presidential elections."

Soeharto sent the message through Megawati's husband, Taufiq Kiemas, in early December, a month before Soeharto was hospitalized. The contents of the message was recently revealed by Pramono Anung Wibowo, secretary general of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

"He just wanted to make sure that this country will be taken care of by the whole nation, not just by individuals," said Lukman.

Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, also said the bottom line was that Soeharto had shown concern about the country and the leadership qualities of the people who had held the presidential post after he resigned.

"Soeharto knows that we haven't found a leader who has the ability to lead this country well," he said.

"No one has been found who has been able to lead like him. He was very good in leading, but unfortunately was not good at being democratic," he added.

However, former chairman of the Golkar Party Akbar Tandjung, said that it was impossible that Soeharto would send such a message to Megawati.

"I don't believe what is being said about Soeharto sending a message to Megawati about continuing to take care of this country, as he surely knows that the country has a constitution," Akbar said.

Deputy secretary-general of the Golkar Party Rully Chairul Azwar also expressed doubts.

"He might have just been lending moral support or paying lip service to her efforts at conducting a presidential campaign," Rully told The Jakarta Post by phone.

"I don't know exactly what was in his mind. It's OK for Soeharto to support anyone. In the end, the Indonesian people will be the ones who decide on their next president," he added.

The 86-year-old Soeharto, who led the country for 32 years, has been in a critical condition since he was admitted to Pertamina Central Hospital, South Jakarta last Friday due to severe edema and anemia

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Former leader can still hold the media in thrall

The Jakarta Post : It is almost 10 years since Soeharto stepped down as president of Indonesia, but he seems to have lost little of his pulling power, if the attention the media has paid to his stints at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta are anything to go by.

Since he was rushed to hospital Friday with anemia and a sever edema, he has been monitored around the clock by doctors and hordes of journalists.

On Tuesday evening the hospital's lobby was packed solid with reporters sitting on anything they could find -- even the floor -- some chatting while others were attempting to snatch a few minutes of sleep.

"I've been here since the first day eyang (grandpa) was hospitalized," said one of the reporters.

They have been joined by a flood of important visitors, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and various government ministers.

Buckets of flowers sent by colleagues, friends and businessmen line the hospitals first floor. Far too many have been sent to fit in Soeharto's room on the fifth floor.

An endless debate on his legal status has run alongside that about his health, keeping the journalists glued to the hospital, even when their stomachs start to rumble.

"I'm starving but I'm afraid that if I leave this place I will lose a scoop," said one reporter, to nods of agreement from the others.

At around lunchtime, the security guards take pity on them and bring food from a restaurant around the corner, promising to bring some snacks in the afternoon.

Separately, secretary general of the Alliance of Independent Journalists Abdul Manan said that in general journalists should not accept any gift, no matter how small.

"We should see whether the meals are provided because we are journalists or not," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

"It is OK if the meals are provided not only to the journalists."

Luckily for the journalists nesting in the hospital lobby, other guests and some of the hospital's security guards were also tucking in. (Irawaty Wardany)

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Soeharto being kept alive by machines, still conscious

JAKARTA (AP): Former Indonesian president Soeharto wasconscious, but being kept alive by machines and breathing with difficulty Thursday, doctors said, a week after he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Fluids are building up in the 86-year-old's lungs, but there are no immediate plans to put him on a respirator and no signs of pneumonia, said Marjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor.

Soeharto's blood pressure and hemoglobin levels have returned to normal, but his kidneys are still failing, Subiandono said.

Soeharto, whose regime was widely regarded as one of most corrupt and brutal of the 20th century, has been in and out of the hospital since he was chased from office at the height of the 1997-98 financial crisis.

A series of strokes have left him with permanent brain damage and impaired speech, helping keep him from facing charges of human rights abuses and embezzlement of state funds during his 32-year reign.

Soeharto was rushed to Pertamina Hospital last Friday, where he was diagnosed with anemia and a dangerously low heart rate.

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Soeharto's health deteriorates, with signs of internal bleeding

JAKARTA(AP): Former Indonesian President Soeharto's health deteriorated Tuesday, with signs of internal bleeding and fluid building up in his lungs, the chief presidential doctor said.

Soeharto, 86, was suffering from anemia, a dangerously low heart rate and swollen internal organs when he was admitted to Pertamina Hospital in critical condition Friday. He responded well to a blood transfusion and dialysis treatment, but on Tuesday his condition deteriorated, Dr. Subiandono told a news conference.

"Traces of blood were found in his urine and feces," an indication of internal bleeding, he said. "Excess liquid in his lungs is also increasing" and could lead to respiratory problems, Subiandono said

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Soeharto's health deteriorates, with signs of internal bleeding

JAKARTA(AP): Former Indonesian POresident Soeharto's health deteriorated Tuesday, with signs of internal bleeding and fluid building up in his lungs, the chief presidential doctor said.

Soeharto, 86, was suffering from anemia, a dangerously low heart rate and swollen internal organs when he was admitted to Pertamina Hospital in critical condition Friday. He responded well to a blood transfusion and dialysis treatment, but on Tuesday his condition deteriorated, Dr. Subiandono told a news conference.

"Traces of blood were found in his urine and feces," an indication of internal bleeding, he said. "Excess liquid in his lungs is also increasing" and could lead to respiratory problems, Subiandono said

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Soeharto examined in hospital after 5 days

JAKARTA (AP): Former Indonesian president Soeharto wasbeing examined in a Jakarta hospital Friday after falling ill at his home last week, doctors said.

Soeharto, 86, complained about "swelling of his feet and other parts of his body," said Dr. Joko Raharjo, a member of Suharto's medical team at Pertamina Hospital.

His condition was not considered threatening, but he would likely spend the night under observation, said Dr. Brig. Gen. Marjo Subiandono, the head of Indonesia's presidential medical team.

Soeharto, who brutally ruled the country for 32 years until being toppled by a pro-democracy uprising in 1998, has been in and out of the hospital in recent years for a stroke and intestinal bleeding.

He is said to have suffered permanent brain damage and some speech loss from at least two strokes. During recent Islamic holidays, he received a stream of high-profile guests and gave a rare media interview in November after winning a defamation lawsuit against Time magazine.

Two years after his ouster, Suharto was indicted for allegedly embezzling US$600 million, but legal proceedings were suspended due to his poor health

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