在1997年亚洲金融危机期间，印尼经济在三十年快速发展后发生逆转。原有的增长基础被揭露为建立在总统苏哈托家族及其亲信对商业和金融体系的广泛滥用之上。经济危机导致3,600万印尼人重新陷入贫困，外国投资者信心崩溃。尽管国际货币基金组织呼吁整顿腐败，监管机构却拒绝采取行动。最终，社会动荡及抗议促使苏哈托下台，开启了“改革时代”——印尼向民主过渡的新时期。
2023年11月10日，现任总统普拉博沃·苏比安托将已故苏哈托提名为国家英雄，同时也将两名与苏哈托政权斗争的对立人士——阿卜杜拉赫曼·瓦希德与劳工活动家马尔西娜——一同追授国家英雄称号。瓦希德是在后苏哈托首次自由选举中当选总统的反对领袖，马尔西娜于1993年被谋杀。普拉博沃本人曾担任苏哈托军队特种部队指挥官，并娶苏哈托女儿为妻，与独裁政权有紧密联系。
普拉博沃的举措不仅仅是粉饰历史，而是在历史叙事上抹平善恶界限。他在苏哈托末期下令绑架与虐待学生领袖，13名学生出事后至今下落不明。普拉博沃否认知情，但仅向部分受害者家属支付约6万美元补偿，从未追究凶手责任。同时，曾参与1965-66年屠杀的苏哈托亲信萨尔沃·埃迪·维博沃也被评为国家英雄。普拉博沃推动全国各党派执政联盟，意图长期合一，这被视为向苏哈托时期威权政治的倒退，显示了他对印尼未来的意图。
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, after three decades of rapid economic growth, Indonesia’s economy abruptly reversed. The foundation of its growth was exposed as built upon the Suharto family and cronies’ widespread abuse of the business and financial system. The crisis plunged 36 million Indonesians back into poverty as foreign investor confidence collapsed. Despite IMF calls for tackling corruption, regulators refused to act. Social unrest and protests led to Suharto’s resignation, initiating the “reformasi” era—a transition toward democracy in Indonesia.
On November 10, 2023, current president Prabowo Subianto named the late Suharto a national hero, while simultaneously bestowing the same honor on two of Suharto’s well-known opponents: Abdurrahman Wahid, a post-Suharto president and opposition leader, and labor activist Marsinah, who was murdered in 1993. Prabowo himself commanded Suharto’s special forces and once married Suharto’s daughter, closely linking him to the former regime.
Prabowo’s actions go beyond whitewashing history, flattening the distinction between virtue and wrongdoing. In Suharto’s final months, Prabowo ordered the abduction and torture of student leaders, and 13 activists remain missing to this day. He denied knowledge but compensated some families about $60,000 each, without pursuing justice. Meanwhile, Suharto’s aide in the 1965–66 massacres, Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, was also made a national hero. Prabowo is pushing for a coalition of all parties into government, potentially making it permanent—signaling a return to Suharto-era authoritarian politics and revealing intentions for Indonesia’s future.