The health of former Indonesian dictator Suharto improved slightly as a plan by Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri to withdraw multimillion-dollar graft charges against him sparked intense media debate.
"He is no longer on an intravenous drip, although he is still hooked to the oxygen supply line," said an aide as Suharto lay in a hospital bed Monday recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
Outside, debate raged over whether plans for a corruption trial should be dropped. Among supporters of the idea are the country's two largest parties; Megawati's own Indonesian Democracy Party for Struggle (PDIP), and the Golkar Party which was Suharto's main political vehicle during his 32 years in power.
Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang welcomed the plan saying that it would be part of efforts by the government to work for national reconciliation, according to a report in the Media Indonesia newspaper.
On the opposing side are legal experts who assert the move would further undermine already weak public confidence in the government's commitment to the rule of law. "It will set a bad precedent," said lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis who won a libel case filed by Suharto against Time magazine in favor of the international weekly. Like many others quoted in the press, Lubis said a pardon should only be considered after a verdict had been reached in a trial.
National Assembly Chairman Amien Rais was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying he would agree to revoke the charges against Suharto, but only after he had returned his "ill-gotten wealth" to the state.
A readers' poll conducted by the leading daily Kompas in eight Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, showed that 49 percent of respondents agreed the charges should be dropped for humanitarian reasons and in recognition of Suharto's service to the nation.
Opponents, accounting for 43 percent, demanded the trial be continued with the main reasons cited being that the government needed to enforce the country's laws and should demonstrate its determination to fight corruption.