Foes Skeptical of Leader’s Offer to Step Down

Anti-Suharto forces Tuesday rejected as inadequate the president’s announcement that he will hold new elections and step down once Indonesia’s political process is reformed.

Though Suharto’s concessions would have been unimaginable just three months ago, the fact that he said he will stay on to oversee reformation--a process that could take months--led many Indonesians to believe that he is still playing a crafty political game to hold on to power.

“It’s a setup,” said businessman Hartojo Wiganjowijojo in a comment that reflected many Indonesians’ beliefs. “Suharto is just up to his old tricks. He’s not going to give up that easily.”

Amien Rais, a prominent Muslim opposition leader, also dismissed the president’s olive branch, saying that demonstrations would continue. But at the last minute, he called off a massive anti-Suharto rally scheduled today--the 90th anniversary of the founding of the liberation movement that led the struggle against the Dutch for independence.

The chief of the armed forces, Gen. Wiranto, had urged Monday that the demonstration be canceled to avoid a repeat of the rioting last week that left 500 people dead and 5,000 buildings damaged or destroyed in Jakarta, the capital. The rioting was sparked by the shooting deaths of six students by police.

Despite the skepticism that greeted Suharto’s nationally televised announcement, political analysts believed that his concessions--something he seldom grants under any circumstances--indicated that he realizes the seriousness of the situation.

Governments from Australia to Japan expressed cautious optimism that Suharto’s gesture represented a step toward an eventual resolution. The stock market and the rupiah, the Indonesian currency, were up substantially on the same belief.

“What is important,” said Emiha Najib, a Muslim intellectual, “is that we have a guarantee from Mr. Suharto that he will not stand again and that we will have an election as soon as possible.”

Suharto looked calm and confident as he emerged from four days of isolation to speak to this nation of 200 million, something he rarely does. He provided few details of his plan and offered no timetable for implementing it.

But he said that a reform committee will be established to draft new political laws “as quickly as possible” and that he will not be a candidate in the new elections. He has ruled Indonesia for 32 years, and an assembly made up of parliament and government appointees reelected him to a seventh five-year term only in March.

Students occupying the grounds of parliament greeted his statement Tuesday with boos. They vowed to continue the protests, and were still on the grounds early today.

Meanwhile, the powerful speaker of parliament, Harmoko, a former Suharto ally who Monday called for his resignation, seemed to soften his demands Tuesday, saying only that Suharto’s departure should be constitutional.

But Suharto appears to have few supporters left. Stockbrokers held a small rally in Jakarta calling for him to step down, and in the past week, the student-led movement to oust him has drawn support from religious and academic groups, retired generals and ordinary Indonesians frightened by a collapsing economy.

Millions of people have lost their jobs in Indonesia’s recession, and some economists say inflation could hit 100% for the year. The civil unrest accompanying the crisis has resulted in the International Monetary Fund’s putting on hold its $43-billion bailout package and has scared away foreign investors, tourists and ethnic Chinese businesspeople who play a critical role in the Indonesian economy.