Jakarta – Indonesia's military had the mandate to take power during the turbulent days of Suharto's downfall last May, but didn't, armed forces chief general Wiranto was quoted Friday as saying.

"At the time of transfer of power from Suharto to to B.J. Habibie, I already carried a mandate (from Suharto)... which stated that the president... could take steps to restore national security," the Jakarta Post quoted Wiranto as saying.

"The mandate was passed on to me," he said. "I could have pressed the government to declare ... a state of emergency and take over power ... that would have been the easiest way," he said during a discussion held at a hotel Thursday on the role of the military during the upcoming elections June 7.

"But the armed forces, and I as the leader ... did not pursue [the mandate] because I realized that if I did so, there would be enormous bloodshed," he said.

The Post said during the discussion Wiranto "lashed out at" those who accused the military of exploiting the volatile conditions in Indonesia with the aim of taking over control of the country.

"Such suspicions are not realistic. We could have taken over before. I myself could have done that," he said, adding the military was loyal to the state and the system "not to individuals."

"The person [holding the presidency] may change but the Indonesian armed forces' loyalty to the constitution is consistent."

The armed forces chief, who is also defence minister, also pledged the military's neutrality in the June 7 polls, the first since Suharto's downfall, and repeated pledges that they were ready to withdraw from politics – but not yet. We will eventually leave the political stage ... but it has to be done gradually.

"As a logical consequence of the demand for reform within [the armed forces] and regarding its dual function ... the armed forces will no longer be involved in practical politics," he said.

Indonesian students, who were in the forefront of the push to topple Suharto, a former army general, accuse Wiranto of remaining close to the former president, and have staged repeated demonstrations calling for the military to quit politics altogether and return to the barracks.

The country's upper house of parliament, the Supreme Consultative Assembly in a compromise decision has reduced the military's seats in the lower house from 75 to 38.

But the top echelons of the central and provincial governments remain loaded with active and retired military officers.