Vaudine England, Jakarta – A familiar sense of insecurity was afflicting Jakarta yesterday. With President Abdurrahman Wahid overseas, politicians as sailed his alleged over-confidence amid small protests against various perceived ills.
House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tanjung said at the weekend Mr Wahid and his Government "may face a sort of impeachment from the people if social unrest continues to escalate".
About 500 Muslims dressed in blue and white robes and carrying swords and machetes gathered at the parliament yesterday to demand the right to go to the eastern Maluku Islands to fight a holy war against Christians.
Meanwhile, reporters who tried to visit a training camp for the jihad fighters at Bogor, near Jakarta, were violently prevented from doing so. "We were asking our way to the main post to seek permission to look around in the camp when several youths fell on us and started beating us up," one journalist said.
Witnesses watching the camp from outside said the participants were practising martial arts using machetes and swords, and nearby residents said they felt scared and nervous.
The jihad demonstrations, replete with weaponry on the capital's main streets, have raised public concern at the failure of police to disarm the men or intervene in the protests and training. Police said yesterday they had so far not intervened for fear of provoking violence, but they would act if it became clear the protesters planned to use their weapons.
According to Mr Akbar, a crisis of confidence in the Government could evolve from the mass rallies by Muslim groups, and the House could press the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to call for a special session to appraise the President's performance.
The atmosphere has not been improved by the Government's failure to meet a deadline for crucial economic reforms, needed to justify the next instalment of funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
State Secretary Bondan Gunawan maintains that Mr Wahid's position is secure, despite his absence, because of broad support among most Indonesians. "We are now learning how to practise democracy," he said.
Some commentators have even suggested that Mr Wahid's comments in favour of fresh discussion about communism were intended as a threat to the IMF, to force through new funding regardless of an agreed schedule of reform and reward. This conspiracy theory is barely plausible, however, as Mr Wahid has long been renowned for his religious and political tolerance, and is committed to restoring Indonesia's reputation on the world stage.
Threatened public transport chaos failed to seriously damage the capital's traffic flow, following the cancellation around midnight on Sunday of a strike planned by private bus companies angry at a delay in fare rises.