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Indonesia's Wahid To Hang On To Power
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid failed in his peace mission in Kalimantan as police were forced to shoot at stone throwing Dayak demonstrators on Thursday in Palangkaraya.
In the process of his one-day visit, Dayak leaders urged Wahid to find another solution to issues concerning the ethnic Muslim Madurese and other settler problems, rather than just resettling them back in central Kalimantan.
Protestors in Palangkaraya promised Wahid more head chopping if Madurese settlers were to be given back their land and possessions. They made it clear that they desire no more settlers in central Kalimantan, and that not a single piece of Dayak land would be given away again.
The refusal and resistance Wahid met in Kalimantan is considered a further personal blow to the President that might accentuate the holding of a special parliamentary meeting in three months that will decide as to whether Wahid should remain president.
After the visit to Sampit, the center of a brutal rampage by ethnic Dayaks in which 500 people were killed, Wahid told reporters that he had to stay on as president, or else the entire Indonesian nation would face disintegration.
"Whatever happens, I must remain as president," he said. The President repeated his earlier statement that if he resigned, several provinces, including Riau, Aceh and Irian Jaya, would declare their independence.
"There will be chaos, I was even informed that the Madurese people also want independence if I resign," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Wahid asserted that it was his duty as president to defend the Constitution, which includes the maintenance the country's territorial integrity, and that whatever may occur, he will defend his job to prevent the country from breaking up.
Gus Dur (Wahid's nickname) brushed aside mounting protests demanding his resignation with a simple "No problem," while denying that he mobilized supporters from Banser, a youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) organization, to counter rallies organized by the opposition.
In Kalimantan, Wahid met with the governor and other officials before flying to Sampit, where most of the killings took place. He toured the settlement for 10 minutes, but did not leave his vehicle.
More than 70,000 settlers, or descendants of settlers, have been evacuated, mostly to Madura, a Wahid political stronghold.
Wahid said the central government would work to reconcile tensions between the rival ethnic groups with the aim of repatriating the tens of thousands who fled.
"If it is possible they should return," Wahid said. "If it is not, they should be relocated."
Wahid was greeted Thursday morning in Jakarta by renewed protests against his leadership. Thousands of student protestors called on him to resign in the wake of the recent show of presidential weakness.
Observers believe that Indonesia is clearly struggling into an uneasy transition to democracy, where people are abusing new found freedoms of expression to exact revenge based on animosities among one another.
It also shows the fragility of a regime under democratic rules after years of autocratic rule by Suharto and his clique of cronies and military supporters.
Amien Rais, leader of the National Mandate Party (PAN), has stated that Indonesia is not ready for the quick pace of democratic changes, and that it might cause further splits in the republic.
For his part, however, Rais has not suggested any solutions to the problems the country is facing, insisting only on the removal of Wahid as president.
In Jakarta, the momentum to remove Wahid and propel Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri was not commented on by Wahid, who has played the issue down. Observers believe that Wahid will be able to stay on as President for the immediate future, since forces allied against him remain weak.
Noted political observer, Arbi Sanit, maintained here Thursday that the Axis Force has failed to undermine Wahid by establishing a permanent coalition with the Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party.
Sanit said the move to establish a permanent coalition failed because PDI-P has not participated openly, as was expected by the Axis Force.
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