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JAKARTA: Doctors treating Indonesia's critically ill former president Suharto were considering weaning him off a ventilator if he remained in a stable condition on Wednesday, they said.
Suharto, who ruled the world's fourth most populous nation ruthlessly for more than three decades, has been clinging to life since suffering multiple organ failure last week, when he was first hooked to the machine to save his life.
Speaking late Tuesday, Christian Johannes, one of the large team of doctors assembled to treat the 86-year-old, said his condition remained the same as in the afternoon, though there were signs of reduced infection.
"We are keeping the ventilator on but if he remains stable tomorrow, then we will begin to disconnect it, but not in one go, gradually," he told reporters at the hospital.
"Tonight, the conditions are safe, there is an improvement in his blood pressure... The indicators show a lower infection (level)," he added.
The team of doctors was due to meet Wednesday morning to discuss further treatment.
Doctors cranked up Suharto's drug dosage to maximum level on Tuesday as his condition took another turn for the worse early in the day and his body struggled to fight off infection.
They warned he was showing signs of developing sepsis, a potentially fatal poisoning resulting from infection in the body.
Suharto has been on dialysis and is being kept sedated as doctors struggle to keep his lungs clear of fluid.
Suharto stepped down in 1998 amid bloody nationwide riots and burgeoning student protests triggered initially by the 1997 Asian economic crisis.
He retreated to his family home in an upmarket Jakarta suburb, rarely venturing outside and managing to avoid criminal trial for massive corruption allegations by citing poor health.
Attempts to bring Suharto to justice for alleged human rights atrocities, particularly in Timor Leste, which he invaded in 1975, and far-flung Aceh and Papua, have also been stymied.
Opinion on Suharto's legacy remains divided, as he also brought a level of stability and boosted economic growth.
- AFP/yb
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