His second term as governor occurred during the early Reform era, which saw significant ethnic tensions in West Kalimantan and attempts to remove him from power.

Aswin had previously wrote in 1998 that West Kalimantan would need to be split into fourteen regencies, compared to six at the time of his writing.

[8] The riots were concurrent with the national political upheaval following the fall of Suharto, and in that period there were routine demonstrations by students in the provincial capital of Pontianak calling for Aswin's resignation, as he was seen as a representation of the fallen New Order regime.

[9] On one occasion in 2000, a student was killed during one such demonstration, triggering a wave of condemnations and causing political tensions to escalate.

However, on 25 October, a major riot broke out between Pontianak's Malay and Madurese populations, and the immediate attempt to impeach Aswin was shelved.