Editing Fall of Suharto (section)

=== Government response ===
The violence and riots, which occurred throughout the country, drew the government's attention. On 6 May, [[Wiranto]], Prabowo's aforementioned rival, toured the affected areas, and helped restore calm to the streets. On 8 May, two days later, Prabowo himself, deployed one of his units "to support local troops and assured the public that others were ready to go into troubled areas should the need arise". However, neither efforts were able to fully  contain the violence, as riots continued in [[Indonesian riots of May 1998#Medan (4–8 May)|Medan]], fueling speculation from the public that very few orders were carried out by the deployed units.{{sfn|Purdey|2006| p = 120}}

Order was finally restored when regional military commander Yuzaini requested the help of community leaders and youth organizations to arrange for local patrols (''{{lang|id|siskamling}}''), to patrol with security forces.{{sfn|Purdey|2006| p = 121}}  However, inaction on the government's part continued, with responses to the violence being inconsistent. In the northern area of [[Taman Sari (Jakarta)|Mangga Besar]], [[Jakarta]], soldiers, allegedly stood by and allowed looters to walk away with stolen goods.{{sfn|Jusuf|Simanjorang|2005| pp = 46–48}} While in [[Palmerah|Slipi]], [[West Jakarta]], soldiers reportedly risked their lives to protect civilians.{{sfn|Jusuf|Simanjorang|2005| p = 29}} In [[Surakarta]] (Solo), Armed Forces representative Colonel Sriyanto denied allegations of neglect, claiming that ground forces were limited and few due to units being transferred to Jakarta with only a few soldiers left to assist the police in controlling protesters at the [[Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta|Muhammadiyah University]]. For the most part, the military portrayed the violence "in terms of mobs gone mad, acting in an uncontrollable and spontaneous manner, outnumbering security forces".{{sfn|Purdey|2006| p = 130}}