Sydney – Timorese leaders in Australia described the re-election of Suharto on Tuesday for the Indonesian presidency as a structural and political weakness in the Southeast Asian nation that it would only be solved if the vice-president Habibie, could guarantee a proper transition in the post-Suharto era.

The comments to Lusa followed the re-election of Suharto for his seventh mandate as head of state of Indonesia.

The spokesman for the East Timor Relief Association, Agio Pereira, said that the expected re-election of Suharto showed above all the relative weakness of the Indonesian democratic forces.

He added that despite the current economic and social crisis in Indonesia, no real attempts had emerged to seek an alternative to Suharto. The head of Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), Joao Carrascalao, said that the re-election of Suharto was not a surprise, stressing instead the importance of the appointment of a vice-president who favours the transition to democracy. For Carrascalao, the appointment of Habibie might represent an important step in the path to democracy.