Everything will be okay: President<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid played down on
\nSunday security fears in the wake of rumored mass rallies between
\npeople in support of and against him on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"God willing, there will be nothing,\" Abdurrahman said after a
\nmeeting at the Merdeka Palace on Sunday morning to discuss
\nsecurity in the capital.<\/p>\n
However, without elaborating, he said that the authorities
\nwere prepared should violence break out.<\/p>\n
Also present in the meeting were Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
\nSecurity Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Army Chief of Staff
\nGen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police Chief Gen. Bimantoro
\nand chief of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Arie.
\nJ. Kumaat.<\/p>\n
Rumors have been circulating that rallies were planned for
\nMonday in support of a House of Representatives (DPR) probe into
\nAbdurrahman's alleged involvement in two financial scandals.<\/p>\n
Monday is also the day the House special committee is due to
\npresent their findings and recommendations to a closed plenary
\nsession of the DPR.<\/p>\n
The House's special committee is investigating the fraudulent
\nwithdrawal of Rp 35 billion (US$3.3 million) from the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) by Abdurrahman's masseur and also a $2
\nmillion donation from the Sultan of Brunei which the President
\nclaims was a personal gift.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said he was informed during the meeting that some
\n85,000 of his supporters were already on their way to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"This morning, Mr. Ryamizard (Riacudu, chief of the Army's
\nStrategic Reserves Command) reported that some 50,000 people from
\nEast, Central and West Java are coming to Jakarta,\" Abdurrahman
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
He also said he had been told by leaders in Banten province,
\nWest Java, that 35,000 more supporters were preparing to head to
\nJakarta to support him.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's supporters are mostly from the Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(NU), the country's largest Muslim organization he had chaired
\nfor years until his election to presidency in October 1999.<\/p>\n
While the special commission was putting the final touch to
\nthe conclusion of its months of investigations, Abdurrahman's
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) accused the commission of lacking
\na legal basis and \"has become the source of people's
\ndisintegration.\"<\/p>\n
\"...Through the commission the House no longer performs its
\ncontrolling duty, but a systematic act of corroding the
\ngovernment's legitimacy and character assassination in a bid to
\noust the President,\" PKB deputy secretary Chatibul Umam Wiranu
\nsaid in a statement released on Sunday.<\/p>\n
As a precaution, NU leaders issued a last-ditch call on all
\nits members, regardless of their political affiliation, to
\nrefrain themselves from the use of violence.<\/p>\n
\"(Everybody) should uphold common sense in the forum to settle
\npolitical conflict which is held through honest, open and sincere
\ndeliberation, for the nation's sake,\" the statement, signed by NU
\nlawmaking body's chief Sahal Mahfudz and deputy Masdar Faris
\nMas'udi.<\/p>\n
Later in the day, leader of the NU youth wing Ansor, Saifullah
\nYusuf, said his organization could not be held responsible for
\nany violence on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"We have officially told them (NU members) not to go to
\nJakarta and if they insist on going ... then it is no longer our
\nresponsibility and the police should arrest them if necessary,\"
\nSaifullah told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
In the West Java capital of Bandung on Sunday, House Speaker
\nAkbar Tandjung also called on both supporters and opponents of
\nAbdurrahman not to stage rallies at the DPR complex on Monday to
\nprevent violence from taking place.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile on Saturday, the presidential office issued a
\nstatement warning that \"elements of the New Order\" in the DPR
\nwere trying to stage a political comeback by sabotaging the
\ncountry's reform movement.<\/p>\n
The statement said that Abdurrahman would no longer apply a
\n\"humanistic approach\" to remnants of the New Order regime and he
\nwill now have \"only one option which is to implement a reform
\nagenda with zero tolerance\".<\/p>\n
\"Members of the past regime, particularly those who were in
\nthe political mainstream and bureaucracy, have been given an
\nopportunity to repent, learn their lessons and regain public
\nconfidence ... but, after a one-year period, President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid is deeply disappointed to see that they've
\nwasted the opportunity,\" the statement said.<\/p>\n
The statement accused the New Order remnants of applying \"ends
\njustify the means\" approach to meet their objectives, including
\n\"reviving New Order power\".<\/p>\n
\"So, if there is any one trying to prevent the reform agenda
\nfrom taking place, they will have to face the law and the
\npublic,\" the statement said.<\/p>\n
The statement shied away, however, from mentioning whether the
\nHouse special committee was also an attempt masterminded by the
\nNew Order regime to undermine Abdurrahman's government.
\n(25\/byg\/dja)<\/p>",
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