JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- In a dramatic turn, the speaker of the Indonesian Parliament said Wednesday if President Suharto does not step down by Friday he will call a "People's Consultative Assembly" to name a new president and vice president.

Speaker Harmoko met with student protesters, throwing his support behind the students and setting a deadline for Suharto to quit the post he has held for 32 years.

Students who attended the meeting told CNN that Harmoko would call the Consultative Assembly on Monday to force the departure of Suharto if he refuses to resign voluntarily.

Under the Indonesian constitution only the president and the speaker of the Parliament are able to call a special consultative assembly.

The assembly would be comprised of five factions, including the military. Two presidential and vice presidential candidates would be voted on during the proceedings and a new president and vice president chosen. The whole process would take about 10 days to complete.

Observers said it was unclear how the move would be received by Indonesia's military leaders, who so far have continued to support Suharto.

Suharto, 76, said in a nationwide address Tuesday that he would call new elections for president and would not be a candidate himself. But he did not say when that would take place.

A nationwide protest set for Wednesday was called off because of fears of a military crackdown. However, students lined the rooftop and the grounds of the Parliament building Wednesday, chanting and waving banners calling for Suharto to go.

In a behind-the-scenes deal, the military, which moved troops -- allegedly with orders to shoot -- into the center of Jakarta and set up barriers, agreed to leave the students alone so long as the students stay on the Parliament grounds and off the streets.

Indonesia is suffering through a economic crisis that many blame on corruption in the Suharto government.

Since the protests began, student leaders in Indonesia have grown angrier and bolder.

In a scene Wednesday that would have been unheard of just a week ago, a joyous mob broke into the government's Assembly Hall, where Parliament's legislators had routinely rubber-stamped laws for Suharto.

Students said prayers over Suharto's effigy before symbolically hanging the only president their generation has ever known.

As pandemonium replaced politics, some sober student officials were worried: How long would troops tolerate the desecration?

"We do not want to provoke a frontal confrontation between the students and the military because if that happens, the whole society loses because it would only lead to more anarchical violence," said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a political analyst.

Others, however, are more defiant.

"I'm not worried that the army will crack down," said one protester.

"We are not afraid."

The students say they will not leave Parliament until they get what they want.

But with most of Jakarta's roads barricaded and business at a standstill for the eighth straight day, many are wondering how long the standoff can last.

"We are going to stay here until Suharto goes," said protester Airino Thamrin.

Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.