On 21 May 1998 President Soeharto relinquished power after thirty-two years. The move was quite sudden, despite the fact that demands for his resignation — spearheaded mostly by university students, prominent intellectuals, and political activists — were echoed all over the country. It was a sudden end in the sense that, powerful as he was, the public did not think that he would step down without making significant efforts, politically as well as militarily, to defend his presidency. Even though the signs were there, and quite obviously indicating that he was losing his grip on what used to be his sources of support — consisting of the bureaucracy, Golkar, and the military — many believed that Soeharto would not give up easily. This was especially so at a time when the country was plunged into unprecedented crises, socio-economically as well as politically. The monetary crisis that hit Indonesia hard, starting with the devaluation of the rupiah in August 1997, was the main reason for the collapse of the country's economy. This was followed by bloodshed and enormous destruction in cities like Jakarta, Medan, Solo, Banyuwangi, Yogyakarta, Padang, and Surabaya. The circumstances did not seem right for Soeharto — who often suggested that being a soldier, he was not a man to run away from problems (in Javanese, tinggal glanggang colong playu) — to quit. But, realizing the fact that he was eventually alone — deserted by his very own confidants and supporters who had backed him until as late as March 1998, when he was unanimously re-elected for aseventh term — forced him to abdicate.

So, on that very day, he declared unilaterally his departure from the post he had occupied for more than three decades. And with such a “unilateral declaration” — a carefully chosen phrase which was deliberately intended to prevent certain legal or constitutional bearings — Vice-President B.J. Habibie ascended to the presidency.