U.S. encourages pluralism in Indonesia

U.S. encourages pluralism in Indonesia

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The United States will encourage a transition of power in Indonesia that reflects the country's growing interest in greater pluralism, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said on Thursday.

"At the present time, I think there's a strong interest (in Indonesia) in seeing an orderly transition of power there that will recognize the pluralism that should exist in a country of that magnitude and importance," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"So we will be encouraging a transition there that expresses the popular will," said Christopher, without offering details about how the administration would pursue this goal.

Indonesian President Soeharto still holds power after 30 years in office, but he is 75 years old and there is increasing speculation about what will happen after he is gone.

Analysts say a major riot last weekend underscored a rising discontent in the country and shaken confidence in Indonesia's tightly controlled political order.

The riot broke out on Saturday after the violent take over of the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in Jakarta and evicted activists who had occupied it for the past month.

The crackdown on the PDI headquarters came just days after a visit to Indonesia by Christopher, which touched on human rights.

During the visit, a senior Christopher lieutenant -- Undersecretary of State Joan Spero -- met several opposition figures, including Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had been ousted as PDI leader by a government-backed faction last month.

In his Senate testimony, Christopher treaded carefully on Indonesia, which his department's annual human rights report says has a political system that "despite a surface adherence to democratic forms, remains strongly authoritarian."

He did not refer to the riots.

Instead, he hailed the country's remarkable economic progress and said Soeharto and his administration "has to be given great credit for that."

"Indonesia is one of the economic powers of the world. They are definitely a force to be reckoned with," he said.

Christopher noted that "we've long had problems over human rights practices, particularly in East Timor," but reiterated his belief that a government-created human rights commission -- whom he met in Jakarta last week -- is a "positive development."

"There are complexities about the country but it's an extremely important country and the United States needs to maintain good relations with Indonesia," he added.

Despite Christopher's silence on this subject on Thursday, his spokesman on Monday declared the United States seriously disturbed by the weekend crackdown on opposition demonstrators and urged Jakarta to respect rights to free speech and assembly.