Albright Calls on Suharto to Step Aside

Giving Indonesian President Suharto a diplomatic but unmistakable nudge toward the exit, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday urged the entrenched autocrat to safeguard his place in history by stepping aside for a “democratic transition.”

Albright’s remarks, in a commencement address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, represent the Clinton administration’s most forceful effort to date to persuade Suharto to relinquish the office he has held for 32 years.

But they stopped well short of what congressional critics are demanding.

Although Albright revels in her reputation for candor, her words this time were carefully chosen to avoid the appearance of an ultimatum to Suharto. The Indonesian leader has enjoyed generally friendly relations with Washington despite his administration’s rampant corruption and a governing style that the State Department’s human rights report described as “strongly authoritarian.”

Still, with Indonesia’s once-sparkling economy in shambles and anti-government protesters filling the streets, Albright’s speech made it clear that the United States has concluded it is time for Suharto to go.

“President Suharto has given much to his country over the past 30 years, raising Indonesia’s standing in the world and hastening Indonesia’s economic growth and integration into the global economy,” Albright said. “Now he has the opportunity for a historic act of statesmanship.”

A State Department official said the speech was “not an explicit call per se” for Suharto to step down. But the official added: “There is a need for the transition [to the post-Suharto government] to begin. We think it should be a democratic process.”

He said the United States is not pushing any particular transition plan nor has it endorsed a possible successor.

On Capitol Hill, a growing list of lawmakers is calling on Suharto to quit and demanding that the administration push him out. On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 36 House members--ranging from outspoken liberals such as Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to militant conservatives such as Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach)--urged President Clinton to withdraw all suggestions of U.S. support for Suharto.

The developments came as, separately, the International Monetary Fund said it will postpone disbursing additional installments of the $43-billion global rescue package it had assembled for Indonesia from various sources until the political situation there becomes clearer.

Stanley Fischer, the IMF’s No. 2 official, told reporters that the 182-nation organization “won’t move ahead” until it can see what policies the new Indonesian government--or at least the new Cabinet that Suharto has promised--is ready to accept.

The IMF executive board had been scheduled to review Indonesia’s progress in early June and possibly approve another $1 billion installment of its own $10-billion loan to Indonesia. But Fischer said with the current turmoil, “we won’t be able to have a vote.”

He also warned bluntly that if Suharto were to stage another crackdown, it would all but guarantee that international lending to Indonesia would dry up.

Times staff writer Art Pine contributed to this report.