Party vows to rescue battered economy

Vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, which stands on the brink of full power, has vowed to rescue the country's battered economy and mend relations with the International Monetary Fund.

Senior policymakers from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also said they would rein in the newly freed-up provincial administrations and eliminate fuel subsidies if Ms Megawati became president.

Meilono Soewondo, deputy head of PDI-P's faction in parliament, told Singapore newspaper The Business Times: 'We have started to discuss our economic platform and what we want to achieve in the first 100 days . . . We will take some unpopular decisions but we will not rock the boat.'

Analysts said, however, that PDI-P could risk serious opposition both within parliament and on the streets if it tried to chop back fuel subsidies, a politically explosive issue in Indonesia.

Similar protests could follow any move by the strongly nationalist party to dilute the discretionary powers granted to the country's provinces on January 1 this year, including control over local budgets.

'We want to limit the autonomy provinces will have and even dictate the GDP growth for each province to ensure that we have a balance,' Mr Soewondo said. 'That [present policy] is not national unity.'

PDI-P is the largest party in parliament, controlling about a third of the seats. Most observers favour Ms Megawati to assume the presidency should incumbent Abdurrahman Wahid step down or be removed.