Jakarta's new leader

The swearing in of Megawati Soekarnoputri as Indonesia's fourth president in the last three fractious years brought an abrupt but largely peaceful end to the ineffectual rule of Abdurrahman Wahid. Mr. Wahid refused to vacate the presidential palace, but his resistance appeared to be futile. With the elevation on Monday of Vice President Megawati, Indonesians must now belatedly address daunting economic and social problems.

Mr. Wahid was Indonesia's first democratically elected leader. He lasted less than two years, victim in large part of his erratic leadership and inability to work with the national legislature. He dithered as the economy faltered, and he failed to bring a dangerously unaccountable military under civilian control. The constitutional process by which the legislature removed him from office was legitimate, hastened by his failed attempt to declare a state of emergency and appoint a new national police chief.

Mrs. Megawati is the daughter of Indonesia's founding leader, Sukarno, and head of its largest political party. She inherits a bewildering array of political and economic challenges, to which she brings limited experience. As vice president she surrounded herself with respected economic advisers and tightened the state budget. She now needs to sit down with lenders and renegotiate the country's crippling debt. She must also move to fight corruption, build the rule of law and reduce the military's role in business.

She is closely identified with the armed forces and has favored strong military action against separatists in Aceh and Irian Jaya. She was quick to defend the military for its brutal conduct in East Timor. She should use her ties to the military to assert civilian authority over the army and rationalize its command structure, bringing local commanders under national control. She must recognize that negotiations rather than repression represent the only solution to Indonesia's separatist conflicts.

-- The New York Times