Habibie

From Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa

In this story:

• 1st Western TV network interview
• Direct elections in 1999?
• Related stories and sites

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- In his first interview with a Western television network, Indonesia's new president said he will work quickly to straighten out the country's economy while dealing with its rapidly changing political landscape.

"My role here is to bring ... the economy back into the right track and to improve the democracy according to the aspirations and will of the people," Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie told CNN. "And I hope I can do it as soon as possible."

Habibie, who generally goes by his initials B.J., succeeded President Suharto 13 days ago after Suharto resigned in the midst of the country's political and economic turmoil.

"The changes are very fast. They are not only day to day but second to second," he said.

Habibie faces a daunting task. Indonesia's economy collapsed last year, leading to a $43 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund.

Habibie interview -- Part 1 (5 min. 40 sec) Part 2 (8 min. 45 sec) Part 3 (5 min. 33 sec)

Indonesia's unemployment rate is at 17 percent, and inflation is at 60 percent. Its currency, the rupiah, has lost much of its value since the crisis began.

Price hikes were imposed as a part of the bailout. Those hikes, along with the faltering economy, led to political demonstrations and riots that eventually ended Suharto's 32 years of rule.

Now, Habibie must pick up the pieces. With Suharto's departure, many Indonesians continue to push for democratic reforms and a total overhaul of the country's political system.

Among Habibie's first actions have been to release some political prisoners and move toward ratifying a U.N. treaty on torture. He expressed confidence in his economic team and said he would continue to work with the IMF.

Habibie, a German-trained engineer, plans to call a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly to pass new laws this year that would pave the way for direct elections by the end of 1999, which have never been held in Indonesia.

He said democratic reforms must happen on a constitutional basis. Elections based on existing laws are unworkable, he said.

He acknowledged the country's economic problems are driving the political change.

"I have no other option," he said. "Because the economy and the political are interlinked ... (they have) a big impact on the (country's) social life."

Critics say Habibie was Suharto's hand-picked successor and a part of the old system. But the new president points out that Russian President Boris Yeltsin is presiding over changes in the former Soviet Union yet was a part of the communist system.

He did not believe that Indonesia, a multiethnic country and the world's fourth most populous nation with 209 million people, would splinter because of the economic and political crises.

"I say no because we are coming into a world of interdependence," he said.

On the subject of East Timor, he said the area is an "integrated part of the Republic of Indonesia." Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony in 1976, but the annexation is not recognized internationally. There is continuing unrest in the area that has attracted international attention.

"If you look at Timor, we have done more in the last 20 years than the former colonial master has done in the last 400 years," he said. "There is no need for a referendum. It is Indonesia."

He said he believed he had the support of the country's powerful military because he will follow the country's constitution.