New fears of violence across the nation last night intensified amid warnings that Thursday's currency crash had left the Government's reforms and crisis management 'unsustainable'. As the rupiah tumbled towards 16,000 to the US dollar for the second day running, diplomats, bankers and economists warned that such levels could lead to hyper-inflation and shatter President Suharto's reforms. 'The Government will not be able to stop these prices hitting the streets. Once that happens, its going to be bedlam,' one foreign diplomat said. 'We ain't seen nothing yet.' The streets of Jakarta were quiet last night with no sign of panic buying or the in-store fighting that accompanied the drop of the rupiah two weeks ago to 10,000, reflecting both apathy and fear that more trouble lies ahead. The Government spent its own reserves to pull the rupiah back to 13,300 at the close of trade yesterday, but several analysts said Indonesia could not keep doing that for very long. As fears mounted, one foreign executive distributed a private report to clients that read: 'The rupiah is now a gaping black hole, there is no alternative other than the probably violent overthrow of the Government.' The Government has so far quelled food hoarding and related violence by keeping supplies and prices of key commodities down in the run-up to the national holiday next week to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Reforms brokered by the International Monetary Fund are set to lift the control of key commodities apart from rice - a move which could spark massive inflation unless the rupiah comes back down. Political uncertainties and a debt crisis lie behind the plunge, with neither showing any sign of solution. Mr Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardianti 'Tutut' Rukmana, yesterday reversed an earlier call for her father to retire and backed an extension of his 32-year rule. 'We will give our support . . . since this is the people's wish,' the official Antara news agency quoted her as saying. Her comment was the first by a member of Mr Suharto's family since the 76-year-old leader said on Tuesday he would stand for re-election. Protests demanding an end to his rule continued outside Parliament yesterday, with hundreds of opponents linked to democracy activist Megawati Sukarnoputri and popular Muslim leader Amien Rais warning that he was 'destroying the country'. Ms Rukmana said in December she would prefer her father not be re-elected so he could spend time with his family after doctors ordered him to rest following a strenuous 12-day foreign tour. 'Father has said that we have to be ready to make sacrifices for the nation,' said Ms Rukmana, who chairs Mr Suharto's ruling Golkar Party while running several lucrative monopolies. 'So as this sacrifice is really for the glory of the state and nation, we have to be ready,' she said. 'We will give everything as long as it is for the people. Father has announced his readiness to be re-elected as president. 'This is not for his own sake, but for the sake of the nation,' she said.
