JAKARTA, June 20, Reuter - Indonesia's armed forces, whose support is considered vital to the government, have reopened a debate on the future of President Suharto, in office since 1967, saying for the first time it has other candidates in mind.

The armed forces, known as ABRI, will support 69-year-old Suharto if he chooses to run for a sixth term in 1992, but has alternative candidates in mind if he does not, a senior officer said in an interview published on Wednesday.

"If Suharto is still strong, then go ahead. We will support him," armed forces chief of staff for socio-political affairs Harsudiono Hartas said in an interview with Editor magazine.

"But we're ready (with other candidates)," Hartas said. "The important thing is we have our own convictions. We need someone who is at least as able as Suharto and then some."

He refused to give names, but said there were people in both civilian and military life who met the criteria.

"We don't want any yes-men," he said.

Suharto touched off a furious debate about who might succeed him by saying in his autobiography early last year that his current term might be his last.

Speculation cooled after six months when Suharto said he would "clobber" anyone who opposed him unconstitutionally. Analysts said this was a sign he wanted to hold onto power.

The question of his successor became all but taboo.

"Logically, he should step down now while he still has the power to manage the succession," an ex-cabinet minister said. "But it is the royal mentality. Never in Javanese history has a king stepped down and said to his son 'You carry on'."

Suharto has been elected unopposed five times by the 1,000-member People's Consultative Congress, the MPR.

"If he stands again, and especially with ABRI support, he will get elected, no question. The question is, can ABRI or anyone else put him in a position where he can't stand?" a diplomat said.

While Suharto's personal integrity remains unquestioned, the army feels he is tarnished by popular resentment against his family's growing business empire, many analysts say.

Recent declarations of support for Suharto from influential Islamic leaders have worried many non-Moslems, especially the ethnic Chinese who dominate the economy. More than 90 per cent of Indonesians are Moslem.

"Look, if Suharto feels threatened and turns to the Moslems for support, our lives will become very, very difficult," said a Christian businessman, an ethnic Chinese.

Unlike in previous pre-election periods, two separate declarations of support from Moslem groups have not snowballed into a chorus from other groups in society.

"Before, the first group would come out and say 'I support Suharto' and then the teachers association and the becak (cycle rickshaw) drivers and everyone would throw up their hands and say 'Yes, yes, us too.' This time, silence," an analyst said.

After the Moslem statements, many military leaders said such votes of confidence were unnecessary and inappropriate.

"As I see it, (the Moslem leaders) don't understand the procedure," Hartas said.

His remark could be a warning.

"In the context, it is as close as he can come to telling Suharto 'If you sell out to the Moslems, you will lose our support,'" an analyst close to military leaders said.

Hartas said ABRI would discuss with Suharto whether he wanted to run again. "He might say, for instance, 'No, I'm too ill'... Then we would say to him 'These are our candidates ... now, more or less, who are your candidates, sir?'"