Soeharto denies 'resignation' statement

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday denied media reports suggesting that he was prepared to stand down from office.

Soeharto, who flew in from Cairo before dawn yesterday, asked Minister of Information Alwi Dahlan to clarify the reports, which had appeared in both local and foreign newspapers.

Alwi told reporters that "he (Soeharto) never said that `I'm ready to resign' as interpreted by some in the media".

The purported remarks were made during a meeting with members of the Indonesian community in Egypt on Wednesday night.

During the meeting, Soeharto pointed out that "it would not be a problem" for him if the people no longer trusted him as president, according to Alwi.

The minister added that he had asked state-run TVRI to broadcast nationwide the recording of the Cairo meeting.

In that meeting, which was attended by Indonesian journalists accompanying the President, Soeharto said that if he was no longer trusted to lead the nation, he would become a pandito (sage) and endeavor to get closer to God.

He said he would spend his time guiding his children so that they would become good people.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas has also clarified that Soeharto would only step down through constitutional means.

Soeharto was reelected for a seventh term in office by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in March.

The suggestion that Soeharto was ready to resign triggered reaction Thursday, with MPR Speaker Harmoko saying he planned to consult with the President to discuss the issue upon Soeharto's return from Cairo.

Others, including Kosgoro (a mass organization affiliated with Golkar), called for an extraordinary session of the MPR to process a motion for the President's resignation.

Kosgoro leaders, who had also called on Soeharto and Vice President B.J. Habibie to return the "mandate" given them by the MPR in March, visited the House of Representatives yesterday to press their demands.

Fifteen retired senior Armed Forces (ABRI) officers who fought with Soeharto during the independence struggle 50 years ago, joined the growing chorus for the President to step down yesterday and for the MPR to convene as soon as possible to process the motion.

"It is of the utmost importance that President Soeharto immediately carry out his own statement to resign from the office of the President/Head of State," said a statement signed by "Officers of the Armed Forces' Generation of 1945".

The signatories to the statement are respected officers of the generation of freedom fighters like Soeharto. Most of them also served under Soeharto in the military or the government.

They are Kemal Idris, Ali Sadikin, Kharis Suhud, D. Pardjaman, Sayidiman S., Himawan Soetanto, Bambang Triantoro, Harun Zein, Hoegeng Imam Santoso, Rudini, Solichin GP, Ashadi Tjahjadi, Kusparmono Irsan, Wijogo Atmodarminto and Sukardi.

They said that a 1966 resolution to uphold the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution to the letter had not met the expectations of the majority of the people.

The 1966 resolution refers to the promise made when Soeharto came into power to replace then president Sukarno.

The officers said they supported the current student movement pushing for political, economic and legal reforms.

The Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) in a statement welcomed Soeharto's gesture to lengser keprabon, a Javanese term meaning to make way for someone else to lead.

The gesture was a "first step in the process toward a peaceful and constitutional reform process," ICMI said in a statement signed by caretaker chairman Achmad Tirtosudiro and secretary- general Adi Sasono.

ICMI is technically still chaired by B.J. Habibie, who is now the country's vice president.

Minister of Home Affairs Gen. (ret.) R. Hartono denounced yesterday those who demanded Soeharto's resignation.

These individuals and groups do not speak on behalf of the people as they claim, Hartono said.

"The people have spoken, that the President is Soeharto. This was the outcome of the MPR General Session and this is still valid," Hartono told reporters in his office, Antara reported.

When asked to specifically comment on the stance taken by Kosgoro leaders, Hartono said that if their intention was to undermine the integrity of the government, then they would be dealt with in accordance with the law.