Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid is facing yet another threat to his already shaky presidency with the latest bid by his political opponents in parliament to probe into two cases of irregularity in which he is allegedly involved.

The proposal, signed by 237 MPs from six of the nine factions in the Parliament, was submitted on Wednesday to the House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who immediately expressed his backing.

The proposal was made ahead of the House's meeting with the President on July 20 in which they will question him over the April dismissal of two Cabinet ministers.

It calls for the House to begin an investigation into the cases known as the Buloggate and the Bruneigate. The House's Consultative Body will look into the proposal before the MPs decide in a plenary session, possibly within a month, whether or not to approve it. Once approved, the House will form an investigation team, which would issue a recommendation for further legal process.

Buloggate revolves around the disbursement of 35 billion rupiah from the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) employees' fund, by its Deputy Sapuan to Mr Abdurrahman's former masseur, Mr Suwondo, who claimed the money would be used by the President to rehabilitate Aceh.

Mr Abdurrahman had denied his knowledge in the scam, and admitted instead that he had received US$2 million as a donation from the Sultan of Brunei for Aceh. It was later revealed, however, that the money, of which only US$600,000 had been channeled to Aceh so far, was put into the coffers of his friend Mr Masnuh instead of the state's funds because the President claimed it was a personal donation.

An ongoing police investigation into the Bulog case, which has implicated some members of the President's inner circle and resulted in the resignation of one of his aides, has resulted in the arrest of Mr Sapuan, but its main suspect Mr Suwondo is still at large.

Golkar MP Ade Komaruddin told the Straits Times: "There is a strong public assumption that Gus Dur is involved in the Bulog case." "At the same time, the absence of transparency in the Brunei's donation is very fishy and needs to be probed," he added. He denied that the move was part of an agenda to impeach the President, but said the President had violated the State's Guidelines on financial donations from other countries, which means that he is liable for such sanction.

The President's party colleague in the parliament, Mr Ali Maskur of the National Awakening Party, expressed his suspicion of the proposal, saying it was likely just another attempt to ultimately unseat the leader. "It is apparent to me that this move has a strong political cause to corner the government of Gus Dur," he told The Straits Times. But he dismissed it as "just another opportunistic feat by the politicians, which would end once they realised they have no case".

Analyst Soedjati Djiwandono said competition among the country's elites have led to tensions between the government and the legislators, while the latter enjoyed their new-found power after behaving like poodles under Suharto. But this actually betrays the country's power system, he warned: "The powerful legislators work as if they are in a parliamentarian system, but we are actually a presidential country."

[On July 13, Wahid said that he would not run for a second term as president. In an interview with CNN he said "There are sounds that I should continue for another term, But for me, one term is enough" - James Balowski.]