Washington – The United States on Tuesday called for the quick selection of a new Indonesian president following the validation of last month's election results which show the opposition party of Megawati Sukarnoputri beating the ruling party of current President B.J. Habibie.
"It is important that the convening of the new government and the selection of the next president be completed as quickly as practicable," State Department spokesman James Rubin said, urging transparency in the process.
"This will help reduce the impact of continued uncertainty on political stability and enhance the prospects for rapid economic recovery," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Habibie validated the results of the June 7 general election two months after his Golkar party lost in the vote to Megawati's Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP).
Formalization of the results had been bogged down by squabbling small party members of the National Election Commission who refused to ratify them unless the government agreed they all be represented in parliament, regardless of support.
The elections were the first after the fall of former president Suharto who stepped down in May 1998 amid a wave of popular anger at his 32-year iron-fisted rule.
Rubin noted that Indonesia was generally unused to the free selection of its leaders and should therefore be given some leeway in the next steps, but maintained that the quicker a president was appointed by the People's Consultative Assembly the better.
"This is a new situation for Indonesia," he said. "But we do want to [see them] move expeditiously, taking into account the fact that many of [their] institutions are functioning for the first time."
The 500-seat assembly, which includes 38 seats reserved for the military and 200 appointed representatives, is not bound by the poll results in appointing the president but Rubin said Washington expected the choice to reflect the wishes of the voters.
"A credible process will guarantee that the selection of the new president does indeed reflect the will of the people," he said, refusing to speculate on who would be chosen or whom the United States would prefer to see in power.
According to the vote tally released on July 26, Megawati's PDIP took 33.7 percent of the 105 million valid votes counted. Golkar – which routinely topped the polls in Suharto's 32-year reign and which is backing his successor, Habibie, as president – trailed with 22 percent.