The Army, the Parties and Elections

The unsuccessful attempted coup launched on the night of September 30, 1965, set in motion a process which rapidly destroyed the regime of Guided Democracy and gave the Army hegemony over the succeeding political order. First, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was physically decimated and eliminated as a contender for power. Subsequently, President Sukarno, deprived of his most effective ally in limiting the Army's political strength, was gradually driven from the political arena: in March 1966, he was forced to sign over wide powers to the Army's leader, General Suharto; and in March 1967, he was removed from the presidential office for his continued refusal to submit abjectly to military control.