Susan Sim, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid warded off the prospect of a crumbling Cabinet as he and his allies worked yesterday to project an image of a unified and working leadership.

Building on the mood of "emotional reconciliation" he created with a well-covered visit to the home of his discontented Vice-President on Thursday night, he defused a resignation threat by some of his ministers with a personal appeal yesterday that they stay on.

He also sought to co-opt a potential challenger to his spiritual authority – Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta – by offering him the chairmanship of the Council for the Defence of National Culture, a new body that will address the threat of national disintegration, sources said.

The sultan, considered by Javanese as the symbol of their moral centre, paid a call on Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday, hot on the heels of People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais. He indirectly confirmed widespread belief that she was aggrieved she had not been consulted on the Cabinet selection by revealing that she was shown the list just one hour before its announcement.

As a survival tactic, Gus Dur had promised to delegate the daily running of government to her. He formalised that yesterday with the issue of a presidential decree tasking her "to help the President carry out the implementation of government policies and, especially, to execute daily technical duties".

The six-article directive, effective for the remainder of his five-year term, also made it clear that there was no transfer of authority. Ms Megawati would be signing "policies that have been approved by the President".

Although not written into the decree, Mr Abdurrahman had also said earlier that decision-making would be shared with the two coordinating ministers or Menko.

Yesterday, one of them, economic czar Rizal Ramli, sought to portray an image of a cohesive team by calling on Ms Megawati at home to discuss how he and the Menko for security, politics and social affairs, Lieutenant-General Susilo Bambang Yudhuyuno, would "report to the Vice-President".

Despite widespread domestic criticism of his new economic team, Mr Rizal, also picked up an endorsement from Washington, with US ambassador Robert Gelbard defending the much-vilified Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo as having the makings of a fine minister.