Vaudine England in Surabaya and Agencies in Jakarta – Floundering President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday appeared to stave off a push to bring forward an impeachment hearing after the country's two main parties rejected the move.

Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) and the former ruling Golkar party opposed calls for the top legislature to sit within eight weeks to consider impeachment instead of the four months mandated by the constitution. The two control a majority of the Parliament and the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of 500 members of Parliament and 200 regional representatives.

"It is unnecessary to take moves outside the constitutional corridor, such as the attempt to hasten the MPR session," PDI-P deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung quoted Ms Megawati as telling party members.

Earlier, parliamentary Speaker and chief of the former ruling party Golkar, Akbar Tandjung, said Mr Wahid's legitimacy had been eroded by a parliamentary censure over two graft scandals, but any move to call a special MPR session to impeach him must follow the normal, constitutional process.

Mr Wahid has denied any wrongdoing over the two scandals – one involving the theft of US$4.1 million from the state commodities regulator Bulog, the other his acceptance of a US$2 million aid donation from the Sultan of Brunei. Fears of bloodshed in Mr Wahid's heartland of East Java – the scene of clashes between supporters of rival Muslim organisations since the censure – have added weight to calls for the President to resign.

Unrest continued for a fourth day in towns east of Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, and supporters in the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organisation say they plan further demonstrations in the city today.

Thousands of pro-Wahid demonstrators blocked the main road from Surabaya to Banyuwangi and Bali, and a crowd occupied Ketapang port.

Protesters prevented ferries travelling between Java and Bali. Police at Banyuwangi said hundreds of Wahid supporters carrying knives and sickles were at the port and about 2,000 more were on their way. A crowd of 500 later ransacked an office of the opposition Golkar party there, smashing windows and burning furniture.

A protest leader in Banyuwangi, Ali Maschan, said there would be bloodshed if the President was forced from office. "There will be revenge and civil war," he said. Another crowd marched to the district legislature in Boyolali, carrying banners reading, "Don't trigger us to revolt!"

In a sign of further conflict, yesterday's protests included an attack on a Muslim college run by the rival Muhammadiyah organisation, a power base of Amien Rais, chairman of the MPR.

Muhammadiyah chairman Professor Ahmad Syafii Maarif said several buildings, including the foundations of a future mosque in Lamongan, were destroyed by NU supporters.

Mr Rais' frequent calls for Mr Wahid to resign have intensified since last week's parliamentary censure of the President. In comments published yesterday, Mr Rais said: "We cannot have a President who is inconsistent and lacks a vision for the country. The longer he stays in power, the more damage he will do."

Mr Rais said a long lead-up to impeachment would result in uncertainties and social and political upheaval. If rules are followed as the leading parties suggested yesterday, Mr Wahid has up to four months to improve his administration before facing a special session of the MPR that could vote him out of office.

Mr Wahid's position has weakened in recent weeks as public frustration with perceived government drift has increased.

This sentiment is being manipulated by politicians eager to take Mr Wahid's job, even though the person first in line to replace him, Ms Megawati, refuses to sully her hands in a process that could later be deemed unconstitutional.