Vaudine England – Interpreting the statements and intent of President Abdurrahman Wahid is a full-time, fascinating, but often frustrating task for anyone interested in tracking the evolution of this new and highly original democracy.

Broadly, there are two ways of watching this near-blind man doing his high-wire act. The first perspective is that Mr Wahid, or "Gus Dur" as he is called locally, is an erratic, ill and arrogant man who vacillates wildly and talks too much.

To those who say this, President Wahid makes up policy on the hoof, fails to consult or listen, and delights in confusing everyone, producing what appears to be an endless succession of gaffes and contradictions.

"This is just another big game of Wahid's – he just likes to play with peoples' emotions," said a proponent of this view yesterday. "His office is chaos and policy is all over the place. I ask you, is this the way to run a country?"

Meanwhile, the second school holds that, in fact, Mr Wahid is a profoundly clever man with a sharply honed political sense and a mind which works on many levels at once.

Under this scenario, Mr Wahid is calculating all manner of permutations and results which we are all too simple to understand, so that his statements are part of a clearly conceived plan aimed at accommodating the country's many complexities in a brilliant blend of ideals and rigorous realpolitik.

"There is nothing he does which is not all worked out in advance," said a confidant of the President. "Basically there is nothing chaotic," said Marine Resources Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja. "The thread is clear. Gus Dur is consolidating his position," he said. "This is just his style."

There is truth in both points of view; Mr Wahid is a victim of two strokes and is virtually blind, relying on an inner circle of friends and relatives to receive his daily information. He is also a highly educated and sophisticated man who managed, during the rule of former strongman Suharto, to be both a daring leader of the democracy movement and a regular visitor to Suharto. At the same time, he led the country's largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama, while being one of Asia's most tolerant and inclusive men of religion.

Juggling acts like these are a political art form, especially in a polity such as Indonesia, where ritual, pride and high stakes combine in a sweetly devious mix. "Wahid's style is to float first this way, then the other, back and forth, and then he will decide very quickly," Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said. "Oh yes, we all have to get used to his style. Everyone has to – ministers, diplomats, journalists. We all have to learn."