JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Just a few days ago this nation of more than 200 million was bracing for the worst: mass bloodshed in the capital and perhaps civil war.
Expatriates who had not already fled Jakarta poured into the airport desperate to escape. Hotels warned guests, some of whom had left their homes because of earlier violence, to draw their curtains and stay away from the windows.
Opponents of then-President Suharto planned a demonstration of up to 1 million people on Wednesday, just days after rioting had left more than 500 dead. The nation's military chief, Gen. Wiranto, deployed 40,000 troops as well as tanks and armored personnel carriers to stop them.
When dawn broke Wednesday, though, the streets of Jakarta were peaceful. Opposition leader Amien Rais had called off the demonstration to avoid more violence. Suharto's rubber-stamp Parliament stepped up demands that he quit.
And finally, cornered after 32 years in office, Suharto decided to spare his country more suffering. He announced his resignation Thursday and handed over power to his close friend, vice-president B. J. Habibie.
"I apologize for my mistakes and shortcomings," Suharto told the nation in a televised address. "And I hope that Indonesia will remain strong."
Although the full story of his fall might not be known for some time, the peaceful transition last week seemed a triumph of politics over force in a society where political change has often come at great human cost. For the time being, Indonesia chose to learn from its history rather than repeat it.
Last week's peaceful conclusion was also a reminder of how much Indonesia and the rest of the world have changed since Suharto, Asia's longest-serving leader and one of the globe's few remaining strongmen, seized control of the country in 1966.
The last time power changed hands in this sprawling archipelago, thousands of Indonesians lost their lives after a military coup in which Suharto, a little-known general, overthrew the nation's founding father, Sukarno.
Then, the issues were ideological, and the opponent was communism. Last week, the dispute was over who could restore investor confidence and rebuild a shattered economy riddled with corruption and vexed by a reckless banking system.
Suharto's fall also illustrated a generational change in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation. At times, the aloof, 76-year-old autocrat seemed to see himself as a Javanese king on whom power is mystically bestowed rather than being earned.
