Reuters in Tokyo – Indonesia's parliament may revise the nation's constitution to abolish a clause under which the vice-president automatically becomes president if the nation's leader is incapacitated, Speaker Amien Rais was quoted as saying.

In an interview with Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily published on Monday, Mr Rais said that under a draft of the revision already drawn up the assembly would instead vote to choose a new president.

"If members of the People's Consultative Assembly want to revise the clause, it is my role as speaker to put it through the democratic process," he told the newspaper during a visit to Japan.

Mr Rais, a leading Muslim intellectual and pro-reform figure, said the revision would be discussed when the assembly convenes in August.

The speaker gave no specific reason for the proposed revision, but the issue of presidential succession is seen as particularly important at present given the poor health of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The move could be a blow for the current vice-president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has come under fire recently for making little headway in calming a bloody religious conflict in Indonesia's spice islands.

Mr Rais also said Indonesians were disillusioned with the government's failure to implement substantive reforms, and cited moves toward independence in the restive province of Aceh, and in Irian Jaya, as among his top concerns.

"If Aceh becomes independent, Indonesia will no longer exist," Mr Rais said. He said he planned to propose setting up a forum for religious leaders and scholars to discuss the various religious conflicts in Indonesia.