Indonesian Leader Seeks Another Term

President Suharto accepted nomination Tuesday to serve a seventh term as his nation’s president, despite signs of dwindling confidence among the financial markets and the masses that Asia’s longest-ruling leader can save the Indonesian economy.

The rupiah, Indonesia’s currency, fell to a record low value of 12,000 to the U.S. dollar early today following the announcement.

After decades of rule that earned him the title “The Father of Development,” Suharto, 76, suddenly faces unprecedented challenges, as opponents sense opportunity in the country’s economic crisis and publicly are calling for him to step down before elections in March.

“People now realize that after 32 years of Suharto, Indonesia is a mess,” said Amien Rais, a Muslim leader and political scientist who recently declared his own desire to be president. “It is in multidimensional crisis: political, social and economic. People are aware that Suharto is not the solution, he is the problem.”

Not only his opponents worry that Suharto can’t lead the way to Indonesia’s recovery. Investors, domestic and foreign, have yanked their money out of the country to show their lack of faith in the president’s renewed promises to restructure the economy and revoke his inner circle’s special privileges.

The continued collapse of the rupiah--on Tuesday, 9,750 rupiahs bought $1--came after traders interpreted moves by Suharto and his children to mean that they weren’t serious about reform. At the new exchange rate, economists figure, the majority of Indonesia’s listed companies are bankrupt and will not be able to pay debts estimated at $66 billion. The government will not help bail out private companies, Suharto has said, adding to investors’ concerns.

Last week, after Suharto agreed to austerity measures that hit at the heart of his family’s business interests, his youngest son rolled up to a news conference in a glimmering blue Rolls-Royce to say that the loss of two lucrative government concessions didn’t bother him. “There are many ways to carry on,” declared Hutomo Mandala Putra, 35. “Don’t be concerned.”

On Monday, Suharto’s daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, explained that members of the first family understood that they had to sacrifice pet projects for the nation’s good. But traders were not reassured by her wish that the country would soon return to business as usual.

Suharto hinted Tuesday that his next vice president and likely successor may be his minister of state for research and technology, B.J. Habibie--a close friend whose pet aircraft manufacturing project was targeted by the International Monetary Fund as an example of cronyism and economic inefficiency. “They still don’t get it,” said one analyst. “They refuse to believe the party is over for them.”

To be fair, notes one World Bank official, Indonesia has put into effect 95% of the IMF’s first reform package, negotiated last autumn. “But the 5% not implemented had to do with family members, and that sent the wrong signal,” he said.

To try to send the right signal, the government announced Monday the mergers of five banks, the first step to consolidate an inefficient, almost insolvent banking sector.

The silver lining to the crisis, say some, is that it has cracked open the door to dissent. In a country where it has been against the law to publicly criticize the government, suddenly a smorgasbord of opposition leaders, intellectuals and government officials has dared to declare dissatisfaction with the way Indonesia has been run. There have even been rumblings from within the president’s own camp of stalwart supporters--the army.

Even so, Suharto, a retired general, has built himself a political fortress over the six terms he has ruled without challenge or tolerance for dissent. Even his two key challengers acknowledge that, barring a severe market crash, sweeping unrest or sudden illness, Suharto could hold power as long as he wants.

But the opposing forces are gaining momentum, at the least expanding the political space for debate and putting pressure on the government to change. And with resentment simmering over economic hardship, the challengers can’t be ignored.

Two leaders have declared their candidacy to replace Suharto and are exploring the ground for an opposition coalition. Their organization is still shaky: On the day Suharto announced the IMF rescue plan, three vocal figures--Rais, Megawati Sukarnoputri and moderate Muslim cleric Abdul Rahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur--planned a meeting to show their anti-Suharto solidarity.

But Rais arrived an hour late, Megawati came after two hours and Wahid never showed up.

The movement sustained another blow Monday when Wahid suffered a stroke. The head of the nation’s largest Muslim group, with up to 40 million members, he is considered a key mediator in the next month of expected social unrest.

So, what does it take to bring change in the authoritarian regime? Analysts are beginning to agree that the days of mass mobilization have been supplanted by the stealthy moves of the market.

“If there’s a riot, the military can shoot it down,” said one academic. “But they can’t control the market. Who is it, where is it, how does it work? It’s beyond them.”