Australia welcomes Soeharto poll pledge

Australia welcomes Soeharto poll pledge

CANBERRA (Agencies): Australian Prime Minister John Howard
praised President Soeharto yesterday for pledging fresh elections
in which he would not be a candidate.

But he said it was important for Soeharto to implement his
reforms quickly to ensure they were credible. Howard said he
hoped further violence in Indonesia, Australia's nearest
neighbor, could now be avoided.

"I congratulate the President on the wisdom that he has shown,
I welcome his announcement," Howard said.

"I believe it is appropriate, I believe it is timely, I think
it is wise -- and it shows that at a moment of greatest
difficulty and challenge, he has put the interests of the
Indonesian people first."

Howard paid tribute to Soeharto's contribution to Indonesia
over his 32-year rule, but said the reform process had to be
speedy, emphasizing the point by saying an election time frame of
12 months to two years "would clearly lack any credibility".

He also said that Canberra had not been tied to Soeharto, but
its policy had been to work with whoever led the country, and
Australia now looked forward to the installation of a new
president and vice president.

It was to be hoped that further violence in Indonesia could be
avoided following Soeharto's announcement, Howard said, adding a
lot would depend on the role played by the army.

"Can I say for all the critics it has, that the Indonesian
Armed Forces have played a very positive role, generally
speaking, in this whole issue and I think have probably been a
force for stability and a force for calm."

The early indications that Howard had received were that the
president's announcement was accepted in a positive way and seen
to be genuine on the streets of Jakarta.

Australia has advised its citizens not to travel to Indonesia
and has urged those that are there to leave due to the
possibility of further serious civil unrest. Howard said the
warning still stood.

Concern

In Tokyo, the Japanese government said it was concerned about
possible future turmoil in Indonesia in reaction to a nationwide
televised speech by Soeharto.

"We don't know if the situation in Indonesia will calm down.
We are concerned," Japan's top government spokesman Kanezo
Muraoka told media.

"We are hoping that Indonesia will not be thrown into
confusion. We certainly hope that Indonesia will overcome the
current political and social confusion as soon as possible and
regain social stability as well as stability in the national
economy," Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was quoted as
saying by Muraoka.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Clinton administration resisted
pressure from congressional Democrats to intervene directly in
the Indonesian crisis by exerting pressure on Soeharto to leave
office.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs Stanley Roth said the administration did not want to
"stir the pot in a very tense situation and possibly get an
outcome we don't want".

Roth told the Senate Foreign Relations East Asian subcommittee
that the administration would not declare a halt to non-
humanitarian aid to Indonesia or spell out in detail the kind of
political reforms it believed should take place there.

"We have specifically avoided doing that ... these are things
the Indonesians have to work out," Roth said.

Three Democrats on the subcommittee all stated their belief
that Soeharto should resign immediately. Minnesota Sen. Paul
Wellstone said the United States should oppose all aid and loans
from international organizations until he did so.

"Now is the time for our country to speak out. Our silence is
betrayal," Wellstone said.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said the international
community must speak out more clearly for fundamental economic
and political reform, while Virginia Sen. Charles Robb said
Soeharto ought to opt for a dignified and orderly departure.

Separately, a group of 14 House of Representatives members
urged President Bill Clinton to cut off U.S. support for Soeharto
as one way to end the turmoil.

"If the brave people of Indonesia are prepared to risk their
lives to demand that General Soeharto step aside, how can we
ignore their cries for freedom?" the lawmakers wrote in a letter
to Clinton.

Experts who testified at the Senate subcommittee agreed it
would be a mistake for the United States to try to exercise its
clout to influence the outcome of the crisis.

"I would ask the United States not to influence either overtly
or covertly the coming succession," said Donald Emmerson of the
University of Wisconsin.

Adam Schwarz of the Council of Foreign Relations agreed,
saying a heavy U.S. hand risked an Indonesian nationalist
backlash. But Sydney Jones, executive director of the Asia
division of Human Rights Watch, said Washington should join
forces with other donor nations in demanding political reforms in
exchange for further non-humanitarian assistance.

In recent months, the United States has vigorously urged
Soeharto to accept radical economic reforms imposed by the
International Monetary Fund in return for a multibillion dollar
rescue package for its collapsed economy.

Roth described the current situation in Indonesia as
relatively calm, but "a tense situation in a state of ferment".

Three U.S. government-chartered jumbo jets and other planes
chartered by private companies took about 2,000 U.S. citizens out
of the country after last week's riots and looting.

Another 3,000 Americans, he said, have decided to remain in
Jakarta, even though the State Department has issued a travel
advisory warning of further violence and rioting.