Jakarta – Indonesian President B.J. Habibie said he would not step down before 2000, as surveys published Thursday indicated the nation had mixed feelings on whether he should hang on or go now. "If I met demands for my resignation during the special MPR session next month, I would precipitate the end of democracy in the country," Habibie was quoted as telling visitors to the state place Wednesday.
Habibie, a long-time protege of fallen leader Suharto, was referring to repeated calls from student protestors to quit because he is too closely identified with Suharto's 32-year regime. Students, and some opposition reformists, also argue that the presidency was confered on him by Suharto on May 21 when the former president stepped down and not by the People's Consulative Assembly (MPR), as stipulated under the constitution. "I must not stop, not be afraid of (student) rallies as they are a part of democracy," the Antara state news agency quoted him as saying.
The MPR, the nation's highest legislative body meets in November to pave the way for the first elections since the fall of Suharto in May of 1999. The elections in turn will empower the MPR to appoint a president and vice president.
Limited opinion surveys, assessing Habibie's performance in the five months since Suharto stepped down, appear to give him a temporary reprieve, but not beyond 2000. The noted weekly magazine Tempo, in its findings, said 76 percent of Indonesians did not want Habibie re-appointed as president at the end of next year.
But the Tempo survey showed that 60 percent thought he should stay on until the new government is in place either in late 1999 or January 2000. Only 28 percent believed he should quit next month and nine percent said he should leave now.
"Amid the turbulent situation such as now, it is best that we follow through with the existing regulations. A change of power would only worsen the situation," an East Jakartan resident identified only as Prasetyo, was quoted by Tempo as saying. The poll, a joint effort between Tempo and an independent market research group Insight with input from 499 respondents from five Jakarta districts, showed only 22 percent saying Habibie should be reappointed next year.
Another opinion survey released by the Central Board of the Islamic Students' Association (PBHMI) and reported by the Merdeka daily on Thursday gave Habibie more positive points – 47 – than negative – 28 – for his performance in the political, economic, legal and cultural fields.
The 21 positive points earned in the economics field included the recent lowering of food prices, the freezing of three troubled banks' operations, and the scrapping of corrupt contracts with state firms, the report said.
PBHMI chairman Anas Urbaningrum said Habibie earned 10 black marks in the economic field, including for a lack of action taken against owners of troubled banks and the rupiah's continued weakness against the dollar. Pluses in the political sector included his apology for human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian military and his willingess to be criticized for his shortcomings. Negative sentiments lingered however over the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of 14 activists kidnapped by the military before Suharto's fall May 21.
The Tempo poll, with a sampling error of five percent, was carried out in stages with a combination of direct and phone interviews. It showed that 80 percent of respondents see Habibie as still part of the Suharto regime. Among the reasons given for rejecting a second term for Habibie were that he lacked public support (71 percent), had failed to erase the image of the Suharto regime (61 percent), and was unable to solve the current economic crisis (57 percent).
Defending his assumption of the presidency and his relationship with Suharto, Habibie, a German-trained engineer, said Wednesday that although Suharto had been his guru, his own "brains and heart" were what led him.