Vaudine England – With two weeks left before Parliament decides on possible impeachment moves against President Abdurrahman Wahid, the decibel level of the politicking in Jakarta is increasing.
But along with the added noise, the opportunity for distorted messages increases, as bargaining between politicians and the wily but beleaguered Mr Wahid continues over whether he should be deposed, resign, or can still make a deal to stay in office. The President's absence from yet another foreign trip – this time to Thailand for a day – opened the field yesterday for fresh hints about the state of negotiations.
Leading the pack was his likely successor, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri. She was reported to have said that moves to impeach Mr Wahid were "unstoppable", but whether she was stating the obvious or attempting to pressure him into giving her more concessions was unclear.
"The process of the special session cannot be stopped," Nadjamuddin Ramly, chairman of the Muslim Muhammadiyah organisation's youth wing, quoted Ms Megawati as saying after a meeting. "She said that all of the nation's problems should be discussed at the special session," Mr Ramly added.
His comments indicate Ms Megawati, who heads the nation's biggest parliamentary party, will not block attempts to hold a special session in August, or sooner, of the top legislature to consider Mr Wahid's impeachment.
Ms Megawati has used the device of speaking through Mr Ramly before, when she indicated a couple of months ago that her support for Mr Wahid was for his constitutional role as the nation's President, and not for him personally. Mr Ramly's Muhammadiyah organisation is a traditional rival of Mr Wahid's Nahdlatul Ulama group and as such is a barbed messenger service to her boss.
Ms Megawati has been consistent in two things throughout the almost year-long process of calling Mr Wahid to account for alleged corruption and ineffective rule: her delivery of elusive statements, and her desire to take power only if it comes to her in a constitutional way.
Ms Megawati automatically takes over if Mr Wahid is impeached over two financial scandals that have already triggered two parliamentary censures. Typically, she was unavailable last night to confirm the reported remarks.
At the same time, the pro-impeachment hardliners within her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who may take comfort from her latest remarks, are pursuing talks this week among major party faction heads in parliament about "the nation's problems".
However, organisers of these talks say they do not intend to discuss "the second memorandum [of censure against Mr Wahid] or the possibility of a special session", according to PDI-P parliamentary leader Heri Achmadi. The second censure memorandum allows the lower house of Parliament, at a meeting on May 30, to refer impeachment efforts to the upper house.
Mr Wahid's hopes for keeping his job rest on the room left for a deal between party bosses before then. The most significant indicator that this possibility remains open were comments last week by Golkar party boss and Speaker of the lower house Akbar Tandjung. He said a new power-sharing deal involving a delegation of duties to Ms Megawati should be pursued to keep the elected president as titular head and avoid a descent into violence that could tear Indonesia apart.
Ms Megawati, meanwhile, has appointments in Bali on Saturday and Malang on Sunday, involving visits to political heartlands of her own and of Mr Wahid respectively.
Greater power-sharing between Mr Wahid and Ms Megawati has been mooted by several political figures as a compromise solution to avoid the tumult of impeachment, but Mr Wahid and several opposition parties continue to reject it. As with any public bargaining, the final outcome will not be known for another few weeks.