The leading Indonesian opposition figure, Megawati Sukarnoputri, has called on President Suharto to step down from office in order to save the country from its present economic crisis. In a speech to supporters outside her home in Jakarta, Megawati said it will be unwise and irresponsible if the President, who is 76 and in poor health, were re-nominated to his post in elections in March. She said she was ready and determined to become the country's leader if the people demanded it. Our South-east Asia correspondent, Simon Ingram, reports from Jakarta.

Up to 1,000 supporters of Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democracy Party descended on her villa shortly before sunset, eager to hear her first public comment on the turmoil sweeping the country.

She began by urging people to open their eyes to the true causes of the dire calamity facing them.

Unbridled greed, a lack of transparency in government and the attempted extinction of democratic life had, she said, taken Indonesia to the brink of collapse. The situation demanded leaders who had only the needs of the people at heart, a government free from corruption and nepotism.

Nominating President Suharto to a seventh term of office, she argued, would only add to the crisis of confidence among foreign investors and deepen the nation's plight.

Instead, Megawati concluded, a peaceful presidential succession was required, followed by economic and political reforms.

By challenging the regime so openly, Megawati has given real force to the conviction of many ordinary Indonesians that President Suharto lacks the ability to steer Indonesia out of its current woes.

Her popular appeal is considerable; but in the final analysis, it is the military and the ruling elite who, apart from the President himself, will decide where Indonesia goes next.

Megawati told her followers that potential alternative candidates for the presidency existed.