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Indonesia's Wahid Says No To Resignation Calls
KUALA LUMPUR, March
4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Embattled and ailing Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Sunday refused to budge from his post saying that he will adhere to the law and Constitution in response to repeated calls by major political parties for him to relinquish his presidential seat to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The political elite in Jakarta, shocked by the lack of concern by Wahid over the troubles in Central Kalimantan, where close to 500 people have literally been chopped to death in an ethnic cleansing exercise, has joined forces in support of his vice president.
Five political parties have formed a new alliance to oust Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid and support Soekarnoputri to take the presidency.
They feel the president should immediately resign and allow politicians to find rapid solutions to deteriorating ethnic relations within the huge archipelago of some 30,000 islands with over 200 million people.
The five parties joining together to oust the president are the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Golkar Party, the Democratic Party of Struggle, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP).
The five parties said legislators last August, at the inaugural annual meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), had warned Wahid that he must improve his performance.
Parliament in February censured Wahid for his alleged involvement in two political scandals. If the president fails to respond satisfactorily to parliament within three months, a second memorandum of censure can be issued. If, within one month, he has still failed to satisfy legislators, impeachment proceedings can begin at the MPR.
Wahid, however, ignored the warning and has been unwilling to boost government performance, they said, adding that the major concern of the new alliance was that instability was settling in on Indonesia.
Jakarta's political elite does not want the situation to deteriorate further, to the extent that the Armed Forces of Indonesia (TNI) could gain any upper hand in political decisions.
Hatta Radjasa, a member of the parliament, said the inability of the House of Representatives to organize a snap special session to oust Wahid is due the legislative body's complex decrees.
But he said it remains possible to unseat Wahid. "If the political parties and public want a snap special session, the unconstitutional could be constitutional," he said.
Besides the drive to unite against Wahid, all the parties agreed that a political coalition was needed now to secure the nation. Observers say Wahid's political life may end following his inaction evident during the Kalimantan rampage.
Calls have been mounting for Abdurrahman to resign, especially after he decided to go overseas despite recent domestic problems. Wahid, who refused to cut short his trip, was reproached for his insensitivity to the killings and unrest in Sampit, Central Kalimantan. The violence there has already claimed 469 lives.
To make matters worse for Wahid, State Minister for Women Empowerment and Chairperson of the National Family Planning Board, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, warned on Saturday of the possible spread of the ethnic conflicts in Sampit and Palangkaraya to Sambas in West Kalimantan and Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan.
"I have informed the National Police Chief General Bimantoro that there are indications the ethnic conflicts will center in those areas," Khofifah said during a visit to a refugee camp for Madurese people fleeing the Dayaks in Ketapang district, Sampang, Madura.
Meanwhile, around 42,000 Madurese refugees have arrived in East Java since the violence broke out in Sampit and Palangkaraya last month. The number is expected to continue to increase, an official said on Saturday.
"Frankly speaking, the arrival of the refugees is a blow to the East Java administration, but we will help them as best we can, including providing them with food," said East Java deputy governor in charge of people's welfare, Imam Soepardi.
The East Java administration has to provide around 20 tons of rice in daily ration for the refugees.
"Imagine how much we have to spend if they stay for a month or longer," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
To ease East Java's burden, Imam appealed to the Central Kalimantan administration to delay sending around another 20,000 Madurese people now still in refugee camps in Sampit and Palangkaraya.
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