Agencies in Jakarta – In a new attempt to stay in power, President Abdurrahman Wahid has authorised prosecutors to launch corruption investigations against three ardent critics, officials at the Attorney-General's Office said yesterday.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Mr Wahid granted permission for investigators to question parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who heads the Golkar party, and two other hostile legislators, an official at the office said. Mr Wahid appointed a new Attorney-General on June 1 and ordered him to crack down on graft.

Lawyers for the targeted lawmakers accused Mr Wahid of using the probes as a political weapon ahead of impeachment proceedings planned for August that could remove him from office. "This is clearly a political move," said lawyer Muhammad Assegaf.

Meanwhile, a separate attempt by Mr Wahid to rebuild some political support seems to have failed with opponents unimpressed by a cabinet reshuffle. Reports said Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, his main rival, laughed when told of the changes. She failed yesterday to host her customary weekly informal breakfast meeting with Mr Wahid and other top officials at her residence for the second consecutive week. Mr Wahid appointed a new ministerial economics team on Tuesday. It was the second major cabinet change in 11 days.

"Ms Megawati just laughed when we asked for her comment on the latest cabinet reshuffle," Soetjipto, the secretary-general of her party, was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post. He said Ms Megawati had not been consulted about the changes.

Mr Wahid needs her backing to survive impeachment. She has spurned his repeated offers to give her most of his executive powers in exchange for a guarantee that lawmakers will drop their impeachment drive.

The Speaker of the country's top legislature, Amien Rais, said it was almost certain Mr Wahid would be impeached. "Only an eruption of Krakatoa can stop the special session," he said. Krakatoa is a 1,790-metre-high volcano which erupted in 1883, killing 36,000 people.

A senior lawmaker in Ms Megawati's party, Jacob Tobing, said the changes would not help Mr Wahid survive impeachment proceedings for alleged corruption and incompetence. "This reshuffle means nothing. His presidency is finished," he said.

Burhanuddin Abdullah, a deputy governor of the central bank and former Indonesian representative to the International Monetary Fund, replaced Rizal Ramli as Senior Economics Minister. Mr Rizal, a critic of the Fund, was demoted to the post of Finance Minister and replaced incumbent Prijadi Praptosuhardjo, who was dropped from the cabinet. The new ministers were to be sworn in yesterday. Aides said Ms Megawati would not attend the ceremony.

Newspaper editorials said the changes would not help repair relations with Ms Megawati and hostile lawmakers. "With the President almost certain to be impeached in less than two months, anything is possible now, even the irrational, illogical or simply irrelevant, like some of the recent changes in the cabinet," the Jakarta Post wrote.