Vaudine England, Jakarta – Jakarta's long-running power struggle reached new heights of confusion yesterday as President Abdurrahm ppens – and it is certain to because there is an act of treason – then ... the special session will topple the President and our country will break apart," he said. His comment revealed more fighting spirit than new-found humility, as he simultaneously threatened to call a snap election if Parliament pursued its impeachment moves.

Mr Wahid is accused of corruption and incompetence by a parliament now led by figures aligned to the former New Order government of President Suharto. The constitution's imprecision over whether president or parliament is supreme is being used by the Parliament to try to replace him with the allegedly more amenable Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Mr Wahid continues to fight his corner by issuing threats at the same time as offering jobs, perks and other deals to his opponents. Political party spokesmen have accepted Mr Wahid's call for more meetings to discuss a possible compromise over power-sharing that could yet allow him to win enough numbers in the MPR to be impeached but not deposed. "Golkar [the former ruling party] is ready to meet and communicate with Wahid. We will attend, even though the invitation came from the President's ministers," said Golkar party chief and head of the House of Representatives Akbar Tandjung.

Among the threats Mr Wahid regularly unleashes is one to impose a state of emergency that would dissolve Parliament before impeachment proceedings could be held. "All people said there should be no state of emergency, but all are closing off the path towards compromise ... what do they all want," he said angrily. "If we still want to see this country united, the constitutional deadlock has to be overcome. "The solution can only be through an advanced general election. The people should judge, we should return [the issue] to the people."

Much of the mutual tongue-lashing remains just that. Mr Wahid, who has floated the idea of an early general election before, would need the support of his cabinet, including Ms Megawati, before he could call an early ballot. The armed forces and police have also refused to act on his idea of declaring a state of emergency.

But the chance of a deal remains. The leader of the United Development Party, Hamzah Haz, who is cited as a possible vice-president to Ms Megawati if she replaces Mr Wahid, said talks were continuing and no result could be predicted. "Nobody can say what the outcome of the upcoming special session will be, so it would be irrelevant to talk about a vice-presidential candidate now," he said.