Hurry up in Jakarta

After 32 years of dictatorship under President Soeharto, Indonesians are understandably eager for free elections. President B.J. Habibie must move faster in providing them and avoid the Soeharto-style repression he has flirted with in recent weeks.

Mr. Habibie, who was Mr. Soeharto's protege, took over when his mentor was forced from power last May. He has made some limited steps toward democracy. But instead of seeking legitimacy through early elections, he has stretched out what should have been a brief transition.

This month, students returned to the streets of Jakarta for the largest demonstrations since the fall of Mr. Soeharto. They were protesting the slow pace of Mr. Habibie's transition timetable, his anemic efforts to recover money stolen by the Soeharto family, and the military's continued role in government. Unlike last May, the protests were not joined by the middle class, but they did draw support from the far more numerous, and desperate, urban poor.

Security forces overreacted, killing several students. Mr. Habibie seized on the violent crackdown as a pretext for interrogating several opposition political figures.

He is pushing ahead with plans that would defer selection of the next president until the end of 1999. Even then, the choice would not be made by voters but by a partially elected assembly likely to include a large number of military officers and government appointees. It will lack the legitimacy to carry out painful economic reforms or cope with popular protests.

This week, Indonesia's Parliament will consider the army's future role in politics. Mr. Habibie and his political allies want the army to retain its hand in selecting presidents for five to 10 more years. That kind of military influence has no place in a democratic Indonesia. A quicker, cleaner transition to full civilian democracy is needed, and Washington should not be shy about saying so.

-- The New York Times