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Will President Wahid Be Allowed to Complete His Full Mandate to 2004?
By Sahar Kassaimah
03/02/2001
Abdurrahman Wahid, president of Republic of Indonesia and chairman of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, has come under increasing pressure in recent months to resign for failing to pull the nation, which has the world's largest Muslim population, out of crisis.
When he came to office (for the 1999-2004 term), President Wahid pledged to uphold the country's dignity and its territorial integrity.
"Moreover, we must understand that a government must basically be honestly accountable to the people instead of lying to them," he said in a live broadcast on Jakarta Television.
"We are determined to remain within the scope of free trade. We are also determined to use our principles to gain benefits and enhance our efficiency, and use our intelligence to develop our common life and increase the people's income."
However, many feel he has failed to demonstrate to his nation - which has entrusted him with the duties of upholding justice and generating prosperity - his ability to work hard to keep his promises. And Wahid, who was endorsed by a caucus of Muslim parties as an alternative candidate, has been accused of involvement in two scams; the first one, dubbed the "Buloggate" by local media, concerns the theft of 4 million dollars from Bulog, the state logistic agency. The second one has to do with a $2 million dollar personal donation to him from Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei's Sultan. Wahid faces impeachment if the probe concludes he was criminally involved.
Although former government officials have testified that Wahid ordered the transfer of the cash from Bulog, Wahid has denied any role in the affair. Lawmakers are due to deliberate the findings of the investigation in order to decide what action should be taken against him. A special committee was originally scheduled to present its decisions to a closed session of parliament. When Wahid appeared this week in front of a parliamentary panel, he refused to cooperate.
The Indonesian public has grown increasingly angry because of the allegations and street demonstrations are calling for Wahid's resignation. Pro-Wahid protestors are demonstrating in his support as well. Authorities have warned against violence at the demonstrations.
The Istiqlal caucus, a huge and powerful Islamic camp held by five Islamic organizations, has also urged Wahid to resign, appealing to him to stop his supporters from coming to Jakarta to demonstrate his popularity so as to spare the country internal conflict. They feel that Wahid does not deserve to lead the nation anymore.
Indonesia, already battling economic problems and trying to control independence movements in several of its provinces, is facing even more political uncertainty. President Wahid has appealed to his supporters and his opponents to sit down and talk so the country can effectively deal with its worsening economic and social problems.
On the other hand, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's vice president who was elected to that office on the day following her defeat in the October 1999 presidential election, has called on tens of thousands of supporters to remain peaceful. She urged the crowd that gathered to celebrate her Indonesian Democratic Party's 28th anniversary to halt the violence.
Despite her mass following, she has faced criticism because of her silence on key policy issues.
Analysts have expressed their worries over a possible civil war between Wahid's supporters and opponents, but Indonesian Minister of Defense, Mohamed Mahfouz, has declared that the army is ready to protect the country and the president from any troubles or conflicts.
President Wahid's opponents are not just accusing him of failing to maintain the trust of the people, they also say he has failed to uphold the supremacy of the law and the unity of the nation. He was widely criticized by the Muslim lobby in particular in massive street demonstrations in December 1999 for moving the country towards increased relations with Israel.
The president's response was that Israel has invested $200 million in Indonesia, and that he wishes to open trade relations with the Jewish state. Indonesia does not have official diplomatic ties with Israel, and as supporters of the Palestinian cause, many protestors consider trading with the country as treachery as long as the Palestinian issue is not settled.
Muslims have also protested against his proposal to lift a decades-long ban on Communism, and his consistent opposition towards a greater role of Islam in the politics of Indonesia, despite his own conservative nature.
Wahid argues that bringing Islam into the heart of government could spell the end of Indonesia, already troubled by ethnic separatism. "If the new parties want Islam to be a moral or educational force in politics, that's okay," he says, "but if they want to tinker with the laws of this country, then we must resist that."
Despite his past reputation as a potent force in Indonesian politics and the prestige he gained for his opposition to former president Suharto, when Wahid came to power in 1999, many predicted that he would not last long. It was questioned whether he was the right person to rebuild Indonesia's economy, which was still suffering from the East Asian financial crisis of 1997, and steer the country through its ethnic, political and social crises.
Wahid himself jokes that while Sukarno was crazy about women; his successor Suharto was crazy about money; and the third president, B.J. Habibie, was just plain crazy; in his own case, those who elected him were the crazy ones.
The questions that we face now are: will President Abdurrahman Wahid survive as the president of Indonesia? Will he be allowed to complete his mandate until 2004? And will this political crisis lead the country to an internal conflict between Wahid supporters and opponents?
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