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.