Vaudine England, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid's aides were trying to put together a deal yesterday to fend off pressure for him to resign, as demonstrations continued across Java for his removal from office.
Signs of a possible compromise within the political elite included speculation about a cabinet reshuffle which would buy off opponents in Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's camp and that of parliamentary Speaker and Golkar party boss Akbar Tandjung. These two together control Parliament and Mr Wahid needs their backing to survive.
People close to the President have also started airing ideas about a "new" power-sharing deal in which Ms Megawati is granted prime ministerial powers.
Academics have joined the fray, noting that it was Ms Megawati's father, founding president Sukarno, who first stretched the 1945 constitution to cover a similar arrangement, when he appointed Mohammad Hatta prime minister in 1948.
Whether such offers can overcome the widespread frustration with Mr Wahid's wilful leadership remains to be seen. He could face impeachment following his censure by Parliament on February 1 for acting improperly over two financial scandals, a decision which triggered days of often violent protests by his supporters across East Java, the Muslim cleric's political heartland.
Tens of thousands of his supporters gathered again yesterday in East Java and attacked a Golkar party office in the town of Jember in what is becoming a ritual display.
In Jakarta, the Attorney-General's office said it might quiz the President as part of a probe expected to commence soon into the scandals using evidence handed over by a parliamentary committee which concluded its own investigation last month.
Last week's protests failed to accelerate impeachment moves against Mr Wahid. Under Indonesia's constitution, there is no way to speed up the process, and no matter how loathed he is in some circles, no one can afford to be seen to be contravening the constitution.
With Mr Wahid's self-confidence once again high, his camp now believes the twin offers of a cabinet reshuffle and a power-sharing arrangement with Ms Megawati will confirm his victory over his parliamentary foes and secure his job, at least for the three months given him for improvement by Parliament in its memorandum of censure of two weeks ago.
Mr Wahid made exactly the same offers the last time he was under severe pressure, in August. Then, parliamentarians believed his promises, only to see him openly flout them within days. "I'm very sceptical that the political elite would fall again into the same trap," said political analyst Marcus Mietzner yesterday.
Mr Akbar, who has remained equivocal throughout the current political crisis, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as supporting a power-sharing formula – a hint that a new version of the old idea could leave Mr Wahid in office.
"It could be a peaceful solution to the national leadership crisis and the current political chaos," said Mr Akbar. "Our constitution stipulates that the president functions as both head of state and head of government, but the President and Vice-President could make a compromise so that the power-sharing could be done without breaching the constitution's spirit."
However, he also said that Parliament's memorandum of censure against Mr Wahid still held, meaning he has to shape up or ship out within months.
Speculation is strong as to how a rumoured gift of five cabinet seats to Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle might be achieved. Attention has focused on the vulnerability of Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman. If he was replaced, Mr Wahid could blame the ambitious but reformist Mr Marzuki for the Government's failure to prosecute former president Suharto.
Sacking him might also be seen as a gift to Mr Akbar in return for his support, since Mr Marzuki is a Golkar member who represents a threat to the party leaders' presidential ambitions.