Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist before being ousted in 1998 amid political and economic chaos, died after on Sunday at the age of 86 of multiple organ failure.

Indonesians are divided over his legacy.

Many credit the former army general for pulling millions of Indonesians out of abject poverty, while many others blame him for a culture of corruption that bedevils the nation until today and for parcelling out monopolistic business licenses to his family and friends.

Supporters, including members of Indonesia's largest political party Golkar, have called on the government to declare Suharto a national hero for his contributions to the nation, while opponents say he does not deserve such an accolade.

'Pak Harto's life is an open book,' said Mr Slamet Effendi Yusuf, a legislator from Golkar, referring to Suharto by his popular name.

'Everybody recognises what he has done. A hero is also a human being, but the good he has done outweighs the bad,' he said.

An army-backed Golkar was Suharto's political vehicle when in power.

The debate is reminiscent of one about Indonesia's first president Sukarno, who was also officially disgraced when forced out of office amid political and economic chaos in 1966.

He was later bestowed national hero status in the 1980s after remaining popular.

Fallen war hero
Discredited and vilified in the early years after his humiliating overthrow, Suharto appears to have regained public sympathy in his sickness and death.

Television stations, some linked to Suharto's family, are still playing a hymn praising a fallen war hero to remember him between programmes.

The former leader was buried with full military honours in a ceremony led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

As he lay dying in hospital, the country's elite rushed to his bedside to offer prayers.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, also Golkar chairman, said there were criteria for awarding a person national hero status, but declined to say whether Suharto met the conditions, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Ordinary Indonesians have brought the debate to Internet discussion forums and newspaper opinion columns.

'A hero title does not suit him at all, unless he returns all the money to the state,' said a comment posted on Detik.com news Web site, referring to allegations against the former president.

Critics say Suharto and his family amassed as much as $45 billion (S$63.7 billion) in kickbacks or deals.

Transparency International put Suharto's assets at $15-$35 billion, or as much as 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product.

Suharto and his family always denied any wrongdoing.

'I humbly think Suharto was a victim of opportunists around him. He was a hero of Indonesia, especially for farmers and small people,' said a reader who wrote to the English-language Jakarta Post newspaper.

Suharto rose to power after he led the military in 1965 against what was officially called an attempted communist coup.

Up to 500,000 people were killed in an anti-communist purge in the months that followed.

Suharto oversaw rapid development of the country, boosted by an oil boom. His leadership helped turn an impoverished nation into one of Asia's economic tigers, before the economy crumbled in the 1997-98 regional economic crisis.

But under his rule the military was accused of numerous rights abuses, including the killing of dissidents, criminals, and other opponents in the rebellious provinces of Aceh and Papua, as well as in East Timor, which Indonesia invaded in 1975. -- REUTERS