Shoeb Kagda, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's chances of staying in power appeared bleak yesterday after the country's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to accept a special commission's report that implicated him in two financial scandals.
And in a surprise decision to hasten the impeachment process against Mr Abdurrahman given the clear verdict against him, the 500-member House of Representatives (DPR) was at press time debating whether to call immediately for a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which has the power to remove him; to issue a memorandum giving him three months to explain his actions; or letting him off with a warning for his past actions.
Mr Abdurrahman has until now refused to answer questions about his alleged involvement in the scandals, and has, in fact, attacked the special commission as being illegal.
By a majority vote of 393 to 4, in which eight of the 10 factions in the DPR voted to accept the report, Parliament sent a clear message to the president, voicing its displeasure and its lack of trust in his 15-month-old government and calling him to account.
Members of Mr Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party (PKB) walked out of the proceedings once it became clear that the vote would go against the president.
Parliamentary sources told The Business Times that the DPR, which is the lower house, was split on what its next move should be.
Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) and the powerful armed forces faction were in favour of letting the president off with a warning, while the Golkar faction was insisting on issuing a memorandum, which could trigger impeachment proceedings in five months under the constitution.
The reformist faction led by the National Mandate Party (PAN), however, wanted the MPR to convene a special session as soon as possible. Under Indonesia's electoral system, the MPR, the nation's highest legislative body, elects the president for a five-year term and is thus the only body empowered to remove him through a special session.
BT understands that if the DPR does move in the direction of calling for a special session of the MPR, Mr Abdurrahman or Gus Dur as he is popularly known, would resign in the very near future, possibly within the next week. "It looks like the president's position is now very weak as the mood in the country is against him. He may be forced to step down in the next three to four days if the situation deteriorates rapidly," one Cabinet source told BT. While the DPR was debating the president's fate, thousands of student demonstrators calling for him to resign stared down Mr Abdurrahman's supporters outside the parliament building in central Jakarta. But the large police presence prevented the two sides from clashing.
Indonesia's financial markets also rallied on news of the vote, with the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index gaining 4.97 points to close at 430.58 points. Market analysts said that trading volumes for the day were unusually high, with some 606 billion rupiah (S$111.5 million) worth of shares being traded. The Indonesian currency, however, fell marginally to close at 9,510 against the US dollar.
"The president keeps making the same mistakes which create political uncertainty," noted a trader with an international broking house. "The market went up because investors want a government which would provide greater stability." Despite his claims Wednesday that he still had the backing of the vice-president and the armed forces (TNI), both the Megawati-led PDIP, which holds 153 seats, and the TNI factions voted to accept the special commission report.
The former ruling Golkar party, the second largest party in the house with 120 seats, also accepted the results of the investigations into the financial scandals dubbed Bulogate and Bruneigate.
"The president has opened the way for the violation of an national assembly decree on clean governance," PDIP spokesman Laksamana Sukardi told Parliament.
The parliamentary probe found that he could be suspected of playing a role in diverting US$3.9 million (S$6.8 million) in funds from the state logistics agency Bulog, and that he failed to satisfactorily account for a US$2 million gift from the Sultan of Brunei.
[On February 1, the Straits Times said that most active senior officers maintain that Wahid's presence in the political arena is not an insurmountable barrier to the TNI's core area of interest – security policy – in which it is running its own show. Noted a four-star general: "We can live with Gus Dur for now even if he does not provide effective leadership. In the long run though we would prefer someone like Megawati. There will be greater certainty under her leadership." - James Balowski.]