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Indonesia's Political Tug Of War Persists As Wahid Refuses Resignation
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (IslamOnline) - As the target of massive street protest in a remake of the reform movement that toppled former President Suharto three years ago, Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday was adamant the country still needs him at the helm.
In a move to appease thousands of students that held the Presidential palace hostage on Monday, Wahid called on his vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputeri, to have a greater role in the decision making process in the country.
The situation, however, worsened on the streets Tuesday as Indonesian police fired tear gas at protesters who hurled Molotov cocktails at them during a rally in Jakarta.
Protests against Wahid have gathered momentum since February's parliamentary censure against the leader and are growing larger since the start of a national strike campaign by students in Jakarta.
On Monday, as they besieged a tightly guarded presidential complex, more than 12,000 anti-Wahid supporters comprising students and other political activists took to the streets to call for a national strike to force Wahid to resign.
The protestors are mostly from the Student Executive Board (BEM).
It was the largest protest held in the palace since the 1960s, observers in Jakarta believe.
Anti-Wahid protests also took place in other cities including Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, where former President B.J. Habibie came from. Analysts say if protests in Makassar grow, it could be a sign that Wahid's days are numbered.
Wahid's call to his vice president to take a more active role in government did not diffuse protests, instead, it showed Wahid was finally aware that he was not wanted at the top post of the 4th largest country in the world.
Many of the students said that chaos should rule, and if necessary, they will turn Jakarta into a protest ground against Wahid.
Wahid, for his part, said that the students could do what they wanted under the reformasi movement, but they could not decide on who would be president.
He added that he was not at all considering resignation as an option or as a solution to the problems faced by Indonesia.
At the same time, he remained defiant, rejecting calls for him to quit as the country's currency and stock market plummeted.
"In the cabinet meeting, I have ordered Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri to be proactive in running this government," he said, in an apparent concession to his opponents.
Earlier promises by him to Megawati, who heads the nation's largest political party and who is the daughter of Indonesia's founder, Sukarno, came to naught.
Wahid strongly believes that Indonesia would disintegrate if he stepped down.
"I will not resign. I have to preserve the integrity of Indonesia. The moment I step down, Aceh, Riau, Ambon, Maluku, Irian Jaya and...Madura will proclaim their independence," an agitated Wahid said, listing the country's main trouble spots.
"That is why I cannot break apart the unitary state of Indonesia."
The embattled president has until May to reply to parliament on his behavior. If the House of Representatives are still disconcerted, they can issue a second warning that could pave the way for an impeachment hearing by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Wahid was given a boost Tuesday when his archrival Amien Rais, MPR Speaker, conceded that it was impossible to bring forward a special session to consider impeaching him.
"The MPR can't take the initiative to bring forward the special session because we cannot find any house rules to stipulate such action," Rais told reporters after meeting the heads of the assembly's party factions.
"We have no constitutional basis," he commented.
Rais added it was up to the House of Representatives, which has issued a memorandum to Wahid for his alleged role in two financial scandals, to call a special session.
"So now we return to the process of the memorandum because the ball is not in our court. It is in the DPR's court," he said.
Observers in Jakarta told IslamOnline that Rais's comments could send Jakarta into a massive brawl with protestors losing patience and engaging the civilian and military police in the next few days.
One observer suggested that Wahid exit before the country sinks into chaos and slips out of civilian control into the waiting hands of the military.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Wahid supporters were reportedly heading to Jakarta from East Java in order to defend Wahid.
East Java is the stronghold of the largest Islamic party, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), an organization Wahid chaired before he was elected as the country's president.
In early February, tens of thousands of NU members held street rallies in a number of provincial towns following the House's censure against Wahid.
They attacked offices of the Golkar party and other organizations they believed were responsible over the censure.
The NU has 40 million members whom, IslamOnline was told, would blindly follow Wahid if he urges them to defend his presidency. Observers fear this could result in sectarian clashes in and around Indonesia's Java islands.
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