Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday refused to answer questions from angry MPs about his sacking of two ministers, setting the stage for a confrontation likely to plunge the country into prolonged political turmoil. Prompting jeers in the country's 500-seat parliament, Mr Wahid, 59, challenged the authority of MPs to question him about the sackings, which have angered his key political allies, including the Vice-President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"At this time, we cannot entertain requests for explanations or clarifications," Mr Wahid said in a statement read out by the State Secretary, Mr Djohan Effendi. "The reality is that the right to ask clarification from the president by parliament is not stated in the constitutional law."

Mr Wahid's stand has greatly strengthened opposition to him ahead of next month's annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the top legislature, where he must give an account of his first nine months in office.

Many MPs want to see Mr Wahid replaced by Ms Megawati, but fear that unseating the country's first democratically elected leader would bring tens of thousands of his supporters onto the streets, plunging the country into instability two years after bloody riots forced the downfall of former president Soeharto.

MPs critical of Mr Wahid's often erratic and idiosyncratic leadership style now appear certain to move to censure him. The Government is struggling with an escalating religious war in the Maluku islands, separatist movements in Aceh and Papua, and an economic crisis that is showing no sign of ending.

Mr Wahid's arrival at the parliament yesterday, flanked by Ms Megawati, was the first time an Indonesian president had answered a summons from parliament to account for his actions. Ms Megawati had earlier refused to read his statement to parliament.

Mr Wahid said he appeared out of respect for the parliament and apologised for not giving a detailed explanation for sacking the two ministers in April, but claimed that to do so would violate the Constitution that protects the presidential system of government. He still wanted to "clear the tension" and stabilise the political situation, the statement said.

Mr Wahid referred to an earlier public explanation that he had sacked the state enterprises minister, Mr Laksamana Sukardi, and the trade minister, Mr Yusuf Kalla, because they would not co-operate with other Cabinet members.

Some MPs demanded that Mr Wahid explain why he had publicly accused the men of being corrupt. "The dismissal of the two former ministers was a political decision based on certain policy considerations," Mr Wahid said. "The reasons ... are within the realm of discretionary authority and would be impossible to detail one by one."

Mr Laksamana, a respected economist, is a key official of Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which won the most votes at national elections last year.

"If he [Wahid] does not make the right move, he will be in trouble," Mr Laksamana said outside parliament. "How difficult is it for him just to say s-o-r-r-y?"

After Mr Wahid's statement had been read out, the President sat stoically as dozens of MPs bombarded him with questions and criticisms of his stand. He agreed to answer the questions later in writing. The already battered rupiah and Indonesian shares plunged after Mr Wahid's statement was read out.