Robertus Wardi & Ezra Sihite – A completely unsubstantiated rumor of a planned coup d'etat by a previously unheard-of fringe group has taken on a life of its own, with politicians of all stripes chiming in about the event that is reportedly slated for next Monday.

Taufik Kiemas, the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and veteran member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was the latest official to respond to the plan by saying that it had no legs.

"It won't happen. It's groundless," he said on Friday following a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top government officials at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Taufik added he saw no real threat that could stop the Yudhoyono administration from serving out its term, which ends in October next year.

He said that if any groups were desperate for a change in the leadership of the country, they should abide by democratic principles and wait for the election, rather than make hollow threats about a coup.

The constitutional way

He was responding to a rumor currently circulating among the public about the possibility of a coup to be staged on the back of a planned demonstration in Jakarta next Monday by the Indonesian People's Sovereignty Council (MKRI), a little-known, ultranationalist fringe group.

The head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) was the first to raise the alert earlier this month, followed soon after by meetings between Yudhoyono and several retired but influential military generals – including Prabowo Subianto, the current frontrunner for next year's presidential election – who vowed to ensure that the current administration would see out its term without interruption.

Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy and rumored to be sharing Prabowo's ticket in 2014, said that even if the talk of a coup was substantiated, there was no justification for such a move. He noted that Indonesia's economic, security and political conditions were sound and improving, and there were no aggravating factors that could spark the kind of widespread social unrest needed to fuel an overthrow of the government.

"If people are intent on changing leaders, wait for the next election. That's the constitutional way," said Hatta, whose daughter is married to Yudhoyono's youngest son. "Join one of the 12 parties [that are eligible to run], then register for the election. If you're popular enough, you'll win," he went on.

Officials from the Golkar Party, whose chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, is also mounting a presidential bid, have similarly refuted the possibility of a coup. "Our party would never support such a move," Agung Laksono, the Golkar deputy chairman, said after Friday's meeting with the president.

"If people want to demonstrate to make their aspirations known, that's fine. But if their purpose is to disrupt the running of the country by the current administration, then that's not acceptable."

Agung, who is also the coordinating minister for people's welfare, called on all Indonesians to respect the tenets of the Constitution and not resort to illegal tactics like a coup attempt.

Leo Nababan, a Golkar deputy secretary general, said previously that Yudhoyono was right to be concerned about the possibility of a coup. "If it's the head of state talking about it, you know it's not a trivial matter," he said on Thursday.

No military backing

The president had earlier responded to the warning from the BIN by calling on the country's political elite to abide by democratic values and prevailing laws, and not to attempt any move to oust his administration from power.

"I can only hope that the political elite and certain groups will stay within the corridors of democracy," he said.

"If they go beyond that, specifically if they are plotting moves that could shake the country or disrupt the work of the government, I fear that it will be the Indonesian people who will suffer the most."

On Thursday, however, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, insisted that the military would never back a coup attempt. "God willing, there will be no coup," he said at the Indonesian Military headquarters in Jakarta.

He argued that in order to be successful, the coup would have to have the backing of the military, and insisted that the military would do no such thing.

Pramono, who is the brother of the first lady, Ani Yudhoyono, also said that top officers had been told to quash any talk about a coup in their units.

"I have already told [them] to not spread the coup rumors. Let's all just abide by the law. The military will not launch a coup, I can guarantee that," he said.

He urged an end to the speculation, warning that it could scare investors away if sustained for long enough, thereby hurting the country's economic growth.