November 10, 2025
JAKARTA – The late president Soeharto, whose 32-year-rule was marred by allegations of human rights violations, was named a national hero on Monday by the administration of President Prabowo Subianto, former son-in-law of the late strongman.
In commemoration of National Hero Day, which falls on Nov. 10, Prabowo granted Soeharto the title of national hero in a ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday morning.
Besides Soeharto, Prabowo also announced nine other recipients deemed meritorious for their service to the country. They include late president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid who was known as a champion of pluralism and moderate Islam and labor activist Marsinah who was murdered during Soeharto’s New Order era and former foreign minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja who introduced the “archipelagic state” concept to describe Indonesia.
In his opening speech, Prabowo asked the audience to remember the services of heroes who had served and sacrificed for the country.
State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi confirmed earlier on Sunday that the President would greenlight the proposal to name Soeharto and nine others as national heroes. The Social Affairs Ministry previously proposed a total of 40 nominees for consideration.
Soeharto’s national hero status marked the culmination of a years-long nomination campaign for the status, which has been proposed multiple times since 2010, including during the era of former presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
However, previous attempts to nominate Soeharto were blocked due to a 1998 People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree which named Soeharto as a figure to be investigated for corruption, marking him unfit for the national hero’s criteria of exemplary behavior and no criminal conduct.
The MPR decided in October last year to remove Soeharto’s name from its decree on the corruption investigation.
The proposal to name Soeharto a national hero has been met with widespread opposition from human rights groups, who denounced the move as the government’s attempt to whitewash the late president’s crimes during his authoritarian regime from 1967 to 1998.
But President Prabowo’s administration, including Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf and Culture Minister Fadli Zon, has noted the importance of looking at Soeharto’s contribution to the country’s economic progress and that claims of his human rights violations remain “unfounded”.