Hadi Rudyatmo, Suryanto had strongly defended Megawati Sukarnoputri during a schism of the Indonesian Democratic Party.

However, he managed to convince other members of the council, including his later-deputy J. Soeprapto, to support him, and hence secured the mayoral seat.

[3]: 238 During his time as mayor, he reconstructed Surakarta's city hall, which was burnt down in 1999 by a mob following Megawati's defeat in the 1999 presidential vote.

[7] Although the Supreme Court upheld the decision in July 2008, further prosecution of his cases was postponed in 2010 due to his deteriorating health.

He was laid in state at the Surakarta City Hall prior to him being buried in Banjarsari's Bonoloyo funeral.