Jakarta – Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said yesterday that he was ready to run for the top seat in the next election if asked to by Muslim clerics.

"In 2004, if asked by Muslim clerics to run for president, I will," he was quoted by the Detikcom news portal as saying.

Mr Abdurrahman, 61, said that if he were elected president, he would focus on three matters: creating a new political system, adopting the free market economy and promoting efficiency.

Indonesians will elect their president and vice-president directly in 2004. Under the present system, the president and vice-president are chosen by an electoral college, the 700-strong national assembly.

Mr Abdurrahman, a virtually blind cleric, was dismissed as president by the national assembly for unproven charges of corruption and incompetence in July last year. He was replaced by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

He had defeated her in 1999 in the race for the presidency even though her party made the strongest showing in a general election earlier that year.

His erratic style of leadership and brinkmanship in his attempts to hold onto power had sent Indonesia into tumult.