Aidit, D N (1923-1965)

Indonesian politician, leader of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) 1951-65. Under Aidit's leadership the PKI became one of the largest political parties in Indonesia. With an estimated 20 million members at its peak in 1965, it was the largest Stalinist party in the world outside China and the USSR. In 1963 Aidit and the PKI began a unilateral action of land reforms in which villagers seized land belonging to upper classes. This led to a failed coup attempt on 30 September 1965 after which the army began the wholesale massacre of communists and which brought Suharto to power.