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State Of Emergency In Indonesia
JAKARTA, May 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid may declare a state of emergency as a last-ditch defense against his removal from office by a hostile parliament, analysts said Thursday.
"Unless he is willing to step down, the only avenue left for him and the one he has not yet used is to go hard on his opponent, using the state of emergency," said political scientist Kusnanto Anggoro of the private think-tank Center for Strategic International Studies, news agencies reported.
Rumors have been rife in Jakarta that Wahid would carry out an earlier threat to declare an emergency, which would enable him to dissolve the parliament and call snap elections.
"Anything is possible with Wahid, don't discount the state of emergency even though the requirements for its imposition are not met," Anggoro said.
Wahid is known for his impulsive decisions, often taken against all odds, a trait that helped him survive three decades of authoritarianism under former president Suharto. But the trait has yielded only controversy and confusion in his rule.
"There is no problem. You can see it for yourself that he [Wahid] is still smiling," he said. "It's a part of a democratic process ... we'll just wait and see what happens."
But Wahid's foreign minister and close confidante Alwi Shihab said Thursday that declaring a state of emergency is "not a viable option now " for embattled Wahid.
The People's Representative Council (DPR) Wednesday voted to call for a special session of the national assembly, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), to hold an impeachment hearing.
At the assembly, Wahid, who became the country's first democratically elected president less than two years ago, would be required to account for his rule. A rejection of the accounting would mean an impeachment.
Shihab stressed that he saw "no reasons for impeachment because a compromise is the choice of many."
M. Budiyatna, a political scientist of the state-run University of Indonesia, said however that the idea of imposing a state of emergency to fend off his impeachment has been in Wahid's mind for a while and will certainly remain so in the immediate time.
"The only thing that he has to assure [first] is that the military at least allows him to impose it," Budiyatna said, news agencies reported.
But Wahid's call for a state of emergency has been bitterly opposed by his own ministerial team of advisers and by the military.
Anggoro said the legal and political conditions for imposing an emergency would not allow Wahid to claim his move was constitutional.
Wahid told a delegation of his supporters after the DPR vote that he was considering steps in anticipation of the military refusing to implement a state of emergency, the Satunet online news service reported.
It quoted Thamrin Amal Tomagola, who was among the nine supporters who met Wahid, as saying the president had promised "firm action" in response to the DPR's move.
Meanwhile, Indonesia braced for a violent reaction Thursday from Wahid supporters after parliament moved closer to impeaching the country's first freely elected leader.
About 2,000 Wahid supporters massed in front of the presidential palace at Jakarta's central Monas square by noon and more were expected ahead of a planned demonstration against parliament as demanding that Wahid dissolve the parliament.
"We are angry, we support Gus Dur [Wahid's nickname] because he is a religious scholar, and it is incorrect to try to topple him. We hope to go to the Istana [palace] to show our support," said 20-year-old Samain, one of thousands of Wahid supporters who have poured into the capital in recent days.
Banners carried by the supporters read: "Long live democracy" and "Indonesia is crying tears of blood."
"We are asking our president, Gus Dur, to announce a presidential decree calling for the dissolution of the DPR and the MPR," one of the protestors, Zainal Arifin, yelled over a loudspeaker.
"The DPR no longer represents the voice of the people," said Arifin.
MPR chairman Amien Rais, another outspoken critic of Wahid's alleged incompetence and involvement in financial scandals, said he would immediately convene the MPR executive to prepare for the special assembly.
MPR rules specify two months are supposed to pass before the special session of Indonesia's highest legislature can be convened at the request of the Lower House.
But Rais has warned the session could be moved forward if conditions warranted, and if there was a "national consensus."
The DPR chairman added the special session could come about immediately if Wahid implemented his threat to declare a state of emergency, which would allow him to dissolve parliament.
"If the political situation escalates further and becomes critical, then the special session can be held immediately, without having to wait for two months," the DPR chairman said.
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