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Indonesia: Calls For President To Resign Growing
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Calls for the resignation of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid are growing day-by-day, with several organizations and political and Islamic leaders insisting that this is best solution for the crisis-stricken country.
The Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI), in its third congress at the Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature (TMII) conference, a gathering of about 200 of Indonesia's 500 legislators from various political parties, met Saturday evening to ask the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately issue a memorandum calling on Wahid to correct his often-controversial behavior or resign.
Several lawmakers called on the beleaguered leader to resign, saying he was no longer capable of fixing Indonesia's ailing economy or stemming separatist and sectarian violence.
The ICMI joined legislators in Parliament and Indonesians living in Europe in their call for an end to the economic and political turmoil the country has “fallen in since Abdurrahman Wahid has taken the reigns of power.”
"People are so disappointed with the President," said Alvin Lie, a member of the former ruling Golkar party. "The President should now step down."
Other lawmakers echoed Lie's comments, saying it would be better for the President to resign rather than cling to office.
Wahid was elected President by a shaky political coalition in October last year.
He has had a difficult first year in office. Hopes that he would entrench democracy and end civil unrest, human rights abuses and rampant graft have been largely unfulfilled, the lawmakers said.
He has had some success in taming the once all-powerful military, but sectarian and separatist violence continues to erupt in the outer reaches of this vast archipelago.
Some lawmakers have called on Parliament to impeach him over his role in two high-profile financial scandals.
Observers in Jakarta fear the ailing president may be too weak to prevent a break-up of the Indonesian Republic even though the U.S. administration is still backing him.
According to the ICMI`s plenum, chaired by Haryanto Dhanutirto, the memorandum to the DPR serves as a constitutional and ethical solution to demands for the president’s resignation.
"ICMI felt that the national leader has often issued controversial statements which had a significantly adverse effect on the performance of his cabinet, and ICMI also felt that high-ranking government officials and the political elite need to develop true statesmanship to prevent conflicts which had caused clashes among the lower strata of the society," the decision of the plenum said.
The President left Indonesia on Saturday for Qatar where he will attend the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). He will then travel to Brunei for the APEC meeting.
With regard to the general election system, ICMI suggested that in the 2004 elections the government applies the total district system and abandon the system used in the last election, namely a combination of the proportional and district systems.
Furthermore, ICMI also suggested that the people directly elect the president, vice president, governors and regents. The organization also asked the government to be firm in dealing with the conflicts taking place in various parts of the country’s regions to prevent national disintegration.
Meanwhile, ICMI member Hasballah M. Saad suggested that the organization form a special team of experts to formulate thoughts and strategies for closer national unity and integrity.
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