ABDURRAHMAN Wahid’s presidency ushered in high hopes that were only dashed and unrealized. Elected by the Special Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) on October 1999, in the most democratic presidential election ever seen in the history of the Republic, his appointment strengthened the rupiah to a level of Rp 6,7000 against the US dollar – the highest level achieved in the post-Soeharto era. Those times were ador