Jakarta Sets Vote Amid Protest
The Indonesian government Thursday announced an election schedule for next year, but dropped plans to set up an independent panel to investigate former President Suharto.
The decision was met with dismay by 1,000 student protesters, who marched down Jakarta's main road to demand that Suharto be tried.
Rows of riot police and several light tanks blocked the protesters from reaching the palace of President B.J. Habibie, who has pledged democratic reforms but is deeply unpopular among students who say he is a stooge of his predecessor.
Parliamentary elections will be held on June 7 and the nation's highest legislative assembly will elect a new president on Aug. 29, House Speaker Harmoko said.
The announcement of the election dates came amid widespread suspicion among student protesters that Habibie would delay the balloting and stall other democratic reforms.
Many students have demanded the immediate resignation of Habibie, who took office in May when Suharto was forced to step down after riots and protests against his 32-year authoritarian rule.
Protesters say Habibie, who has urged students to halt their near-daily street rallies, is not serious about his pledges to investigate Suharto's wealth.
About 200 students marched peacefully toward the central bank today to demand an end to government corruption.
Habibie, meanwhile, abandoned plans for an independent corruption inquiry of Suharto. The government had trouble finding public figures who were willing to join the panel, which was viewed as a cosmetic gesture by critics.
Instead, Habibie again ordered Attorney General Andi Mohamad Ghalib to investigate Suharto. A previous inquiry by Ghalib turned up no evidence of wrongdoing, and opponents labeled it a whitewash.
Harmoko announced the election timetable after a meeting with Habibie and key Cabinet ministers at Parliament. In keeping with Indonesian law, the People's Consultative Assembly will elect a new president. There is no direct presidential poll.
However, the 1,000-member assembly is packed with holdovers from the Suharto era, including military appointees, and critics say it does not have the credibility to choose a new leader for the nation of 202 million people.
The assembly, which consists of all 500 members of Parliament as well as delegates chosen by the president, met last month to plan the election and approve other political reforms.
Habibie is expected to run for president, but his ruling Golkar party has lost credibility because of its role as an instrument of Suharto's rule for decades.
Indonesia is enduring its worst economic crisis in decades as well as rising religious tension. Earlier this week, Christian mobs burned mosques in a provincial capital in retaliation for attacks by Muslim rioters on churches in the capital.
Written by Haris Syamaun
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