ABSTRACT
A number of Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals leaders are believed to have complained strenuously to Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, the new coordinating minister for politics and security. In his first 10 months in office, Habibie confronted two crucial issues that would leave a lasting imprint on his presidency. The first was the issue of corruption and the second the fate of the ethnic-Chinese. The corruption issue can itself be divided into two separate challenges: how to handle Soeharto family wealth, and how to deal with corruption allegations about sitting cabinet ministers and other government officials. Although Habibie dismissed a number of renowned Soeharto cronies from the Golkar faction in the parliament and the People's Consultative Assembly, the party is still seen by many as inseparable from the New Order. One of the most striking characteristics of the post-Soeharto era in Indonesia was the emergence of Islam as a pivotal political player.
