President Suharto did not specify when new elections would be held. (AFP)

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 19, 1998; Page A01

JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 19 (Tuesday) -- Embattled Indonesian President Suharto, facing mounting calls for his resignation that have spread to the top ranks of his ruling party, told his crisis-wracked nation early today that he will remain in office only until a new parliament can be elected to choose his successor.

Speaking to a television audience across the thousands of islands that make up the world's fourth-most populous country, the controversial 76-year-old leader offered no timetable for his departure, saying only that new legislative elections should be held "as soon as possible" and that he would "not be available" to serve as president afterward.

Under Indonesian law, an assembly made up of parliament and government appointees elects the president -- as it has chosen Suharto repeatedly for a generation. The announcement means that Asia's longest-serving leader -- he has held nearly autocratic power for 32 years -- will not finish the five-year term the present parliament appointed him to only two months ago.

Suharto did not say how long the process would take, but some analysts said they believe it could require only a matter of weeks. Others said it could drag on for months, or even a year, depending on unforeseen political factors.

Suharto has been under relentless popular and political pressure to step down as the nation has floundered in its deepest economic and political crisis since he came to power three decades ago. At least 500 people were killed in Jakarta last week during bloody riots and looting sparked by government price increases -- increases that were part of an austerity plan undertaken by the Suharto regime to qualify for an International Monetary Fund financial rescue package.

While the new elections are being organized, Suharto said, he will form a new "reform cabinet" that will "preserve the safety and security and unity of the nation," as well as a broad-based "reform committee" that will draft rules for the new elections and tackle the corruption and nepotism in government that have been cited by student protestors demanding an overhaul of the system. Among those who have profited most under the current government, critics have repeatedly pointed out, are a number of Suharto's relatives and longtime associates.

With no clear time frame laid out for the transition, it was unclear this morning how quickly it can be accomplished, and opponents who have been demanding Suharto's immediate resignation were likely to view warily any transfer of power that might allow the president to hold onto his office indefinitely. Some analysts, noting that Suharto had indicated a willingness to step down in the past, said they would await further details of the transition and a definite election date, before making a judgment on the president's pledge.

But Suharto, in his speech, said firmly several times that he had heard the insistent demands for him to step down and that he was not interested in being president if he was no longer wanted. "There is no need to worry that I will defend my right to the presidency," Suharto said, appearing relaxed, even smiling. "That is not at all the case."

"There is still a great deal of utility I can provide," he said. "I do not feel the honor of being a simple citizen is any less than the honor of being president. Let me not stand in the way of the desires of our people.

"For me personally," he added, speaking publicly for the first time since violent riots left the capital a shambles last Thursday, "withdrawing from the presidency is not the main issue." That, he said, is "how do we go about implementing [his resignation] in such a way that we adhere to the constitution."

At least one key critic, Laksamana Sukardi, a business consultant and advisor to opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, was skeptical about Suharto's call for a new election. "The problem is his government has already conducted seven elections, and now he has promised another election," Laksamana said. "I didn't hear the words 'free and open' election."

Political scientist Dewi Fortuna Anwar agreed, saying Suharto "has to make clear that he's not just using this as a pretext to hang on. It would be helpful if he set a timetable."

Only a day earlier, Suharto's political fate had seemed to swing in the balance as Harmoko, the powerful speaker of parliament, called on him to resign, while the head of the armed forces said such a demand was illegal and appeared to throw the weight of the military behind the president.

Monday's events indicated that the political ground beneath Suharto was rapidly eroding and that his final base of support was the 400,000-member armed forces. At the same time, the military leadership seemed to be signaling that as the country enters a volatile period of political uncertainty, soldiers -- not legislators, opposition politicians or student protesters -- would be the final arbiters of any leadership change.

In dismissing Harmoko's resignation demand, the armed forces commander, Gen. Wiranto, also said that militant students and other critics of the government should join representatives of the military on a new and undefined "reform council" that would help implement the mounting demands for an overhaul of Suharto's government. Wiranto said the president's main task was not to resign, but to carry out a cabinet reorganization and begin implementing reforms to resolve the country's spreading crisis.

But any reforms that allowed Suharto to remain in office were not likely to be accepted by the student protesters, who became bolder in recent weeks as their ranks were swelled by academics, retired generals, former cabinet members and the general public.

On Monday morning, the students took their protest directly to the parliament building, where, after a brief standoff, army troops allowed them to enter the sprawling grounds. They then proceeded to take over committee rooms and announced plans for a sit-in until the president stepped down.

That night, Wiranto urged protesters to call off additional marches scheduled for Wednesday, the anniversary of the birth of Indonesia's resistance movement against Dutch colonial rule. But Muslim leader Amien Rais, one of the government's most vocal critics and the organizer of the planned protest, said the demonstration would proceed as scheduled despite the possibility of violence, and he promised to bring more than a million people into the streets of Jakarta and other major cities. It was unclear what effect Suharto's announcement would have on these plans.

With the top military commanders openly siding with Suharto and legislative leaders calling on the president to resign, the country's political establishment seemed irreparably divided and headed for confrontation. "There's a split within the political machine of the regime," said Abri Sanit, a political scientist at the University of Indonesia. "The base of power of the president is becoming smaller and smaller."

Until today, and for most of the past three decades, that base had consisted largely of two key pillars, the armed forces and Golkar, the ruling political organization that controls parliament. As speaker of parliament, Harmoko -- a longtime Suharto loyalist -- is the country's third most senior official, after the president and vice president. So when Harmoko announced he was breaking with Suharto and embracing student demands that the president resign, there was shock and euphoria among those who have been campaigning for months for the president's ouster.

"We will urge Suharto to resign for the integrity and the unity of the nation," Harmoko said, reading from a prepared text at a news conference in the parliament building, where hundreds of students had gathered for their sit-in. "The speaker of the house, along with his deputies, hopes for unity amongst the nation and that the president will wisely step down," Harmoko said. He said the leaders of the five factions in parliament -- including the armed forces' faction -- would draft a formal statement asking Suharto to resign. As he spoke, he was flanked by parliamentary leaders representing the various legislative factions, including an appointed military member of parliament.

Harmoko's words drew cheers from those in the room and expressions of excited disbelief from students outside. Many believed that Harmoko would not have taken such a dramatic turn without consulting the president. Many analysts asserted that Suharto had already agreed to resign and that Harmoko was making the announcement to give the president the face-saving "constitutional legitimacy" he needed to step down just two months after being appointed to a seventh five-year term.

But then Wiranto, escorted by a number of senior military commanders, entered the briefing room and made his remarks. "The statement by the leaders of [parliament] for President Suharto to step down are the actions and opinions of individuals," Wiranto declared. "In line with the constitution, this opinion has no legal basis." He said also that the views of Harmoko and the others at the news conference did not represent the view of all the factions in parliament, presumably meaning the armed forces' faction.