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Party Officials Say Wahid Should not be Investigated
JAKARTA, Aug 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Chances that former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid will suffer the same fate as that of former Indonesian strongman General Suharto are slim, even though investigations may continue, sources in Jakarta said Tuesday.
The new Indonesian government said earlier that Wahid, who was impeached for failing to explain his role in two alleged corruption cases involving millions of dollars, could be prosecuted.
However, high government officials said that even if it was necessary to pursue investigations against Wahid, it was not a top priority of Megawati Sukarnoputri's regime.
Opposing any attempts by the Attorney General (AG) to investigate the former president, his party, the Nation Development Party (PKB), said Wahid should not be embarrassed.
A top official of the PKB in Kalimantan said Tuesday that the Attorney General should not altogether launch any inquiry against Wahid for his role in the emergency decree that the ousted leader issued on the July 23, 2001.
"We urge the AG not to investigate Gus Dur [as Wahid is fondly called by supporters] because the decree he issued was part of his duties as president," H. Rusli said.
"Why re-open the old wounds when this will have no good effect on the country?" asked another party official.
The PKB is of the opinion that the AG should not follow the House of Representatives (DPR) by derailing inquiries into the political realm.
Anti-Wahid sentiments are still rampant in Jakarta and other areas where the ousted leader did not receive support at the peak of the special session of the Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Wahid was ousted on July 24th after a unanimous vote during an MPR session, ensuring the ascension of his vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, as the first woman president of Indonesia.
In a last futile attempt to resist his ouster, Wahid barricaded himself in the official presidential palace, urging the military to come and flush him out.
Wahid is now encamped in his former Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) headquarters in East Java where he draws considerable support among farmers, fishermen and other traditional Java Muslim villagers.
The former president says he is now the leader of the opposition in the country and will ensure that Megawati does not demolish both human rights and democracy in Indonesia.
In a jibe, editors in Jakarta say Wahid is suffering from an incurable sickness he acquired while traveling abroad during his presidency, adding that they fear Megawati might catch the same sickness as well.
Indonesia's first female president is on a two-week tour of Southeast Asian capitals and is currently on a three-day visit to Manila before she shoots off to Singapore and Thailand.
She is due to visit U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House on September 17th and visit Bosnia-Herzegovina as well.
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
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