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.