Vaudine England – Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri may be readying herself to assume the presidency, but she faces daunting obstacles before she can be sure of taking power.

First is the wiliness of her opponent, President Abdurrahman Wahid. He amazed observers and cheered financial markets two days ago when he appeared to accept the likelihood of his impeachment. A day later he was back to more usual form, asserting the all-important proviso that any moves against him were acceptable except those which were unconstitutional.

"We can make any kind of political concession as long as it does not go against the constitution. As soon as there is a violation of the constitution, as a nation we must be courageous and take action to prevent the erosion of the constitution," he said.

Mr Wahid's staff confirmed that "violation" could be taken to mean the President's possible impeachment, as well as the proposal for him to delegate executive authority. Mr Wahid has never wavered from his view that Parliament's efforts to depose him, on the basis of a committee decision that he might be involved in corruption, are illegal.

He says the courts must decide on his guilt first and claims Indonesia's 1945 constitution gives Parliament no right to sanction him anyway. He also this week threatened to start an immediate re-election campaign if he was impeached and admits he has considered closing Parliament down, perhaps with military help if necessary.

Although many saw Mr Wahid's earlier comment about his own probable impeachment as indicating new-found humility and acceptance of possible eviction from office, his words now appear to indicate the opposite. Far from admitting defeat in his long-running battle to keep his job, Mr Wahid seems to think even impeachment cannot touch him.

Meanwhile, his National Awakening Party suggested that it would be more elegant if Ms Megawati formally positioned herself as an "outsider" in the run-up to a possible impeachment hearing against the President. "If Mbak [Sister] Mega wants to challenge the President, she should quit the vice-presidency first," said party secretary-general Muhaimin Iskandar. "Mbak is still an insider, so as long as she is still the Vice-President, she should not be complaining about the performance of the Government," said Mr Muhaimin, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

As Ms Megawati waits in the wings, with aides implying a growing readiness on her part to pursue impeachment, she also faces rearguard action from her own family. She and her siblings have long had a solemn pact not to enter politics in order to avoid besmirching the name of their father, the country's founding president Sukarno.

But Ms Megawati broke that pact when she entered national politics, and now that her accession to the presidency appears closer, her family is crying foul. Her sister Rachmawati Sukarnoputri, considered the more astute politician in the family, suggested last week that Ms Megawati quit in the same way her predecessor Mohammad Hatta did in 1956 when he felt he could not co-operate with their father, president Sukarno. A more estranged sister, Sukmawati, recently attended a prayer rally in favour of Mr Wahid.

More disturbing for the many Indonesians who wish for a mythical hero – or heroine – to appear and magically solve the nation's problems, Ms Megawati also scores low marks in some quarters with regard to how successfully she could lead the administration. "A secularist like Wahid, she would face many of the same political and religious pressures, and would probably be even more reluctant to restructure the military," the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London, said this week. "It is also hard to discern palpable differences between Megawati and Wahid on economic policy, though some of her advisers are resolute reformers. And she is likely to be less inclined to negotiate with separatists in Aceh, Irian Jaya and elsewhere."