Gus Dur urged to cut short overseas trip<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Calls mounted on Wednesday for President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid to cut short his overseas trip and immediately
\nreturn home to settle the communal clashes in Central Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Akbar Tandjung
\nsaid the President should quit his trip due to security problems
\nat home.<\/p>\n
\"House legislators have increasing voiced the opinion that Gus
\nDur should immediately return home,\" Akbar said, while referring
\nto the President by his nickname.<\/p>\n
\"I heard that Gus Dur himself has asked his ministers whether
\nhe should return home. But after listening to their inputs, Gus
\nDur decided to go on with his trip,\" Akbar told the press after
\nchairing a closed-door meeting between the House leadership and
\nthe state security authorities.<\/p>\n
The President is on a two-week overseas trip to Middle-East
\nand African countries, including a haj pilgrimage to Mecca. He is
\nscheduled to return home on March 7.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi Azra, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State
\nInstitute for Islamic Studies criticized Gus Dur for not cutting
\nshort his overseas trip and going ahead with his planned haj
\npilgrimage.<\/p>\n
\"You should not perform the pilgrimage if your household is in
\ntrouble. In the case of Gus Dur, his household is the country...
\nIf he insists on performing the pilgrimage, this is haram
\n(forbidden by Islamic law),\" he said in an interview with The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Similarly, young political observer and former chief of the
\nIndonesian Muslim Student Association (HMI) Anas Urbaningrum said
\nthe President should quit his foreign visit.<\/p>\n
\"Gus Dur will have a more valid 'haj' title if he goes home
\nsoon and settles the unrest. It would be better than performing
\nthe haj pilgrimage while thousands are suffering in Central
\nKalimantan,\" Anas said before addressing a seminar marking the
\n54th anniversary of HMI in Semarang as quoted by Antara on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"Ethically, it's a more politically prudent step for Gus Dur
\nto go home although he has entrusted the presidential duties to
\nVice President Megawati Soekarnoputri. He has to be more
\nsensitive to this issue,\" Anas added.<\/p>\n
In response to the question as to who will be the country's
\nnext president if Abdurrahman resigns, Azyumardi said more and
\nmore people, including Muslims, could accept Megawati as the
\nstate leader.<\/p>\n
\"Symbolic actions, like joining the haj pilgrimage (last year)
\ngreatly affected the people's acceptance of her,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said it was questionable whether Gus Dur could continue his
\nleadership until 2004.<\/p>\n
Similarly, noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid said
\nMegawati is constitutionally the right person to become the
\ncountry's president should Abdurrahman resign.<\/p>\n
\"But that can only happen if Gus Dur hands over the power
\nvoluntarily without coercion or violent means,\" he said, adding
\nthat he objected to the idea of a snap election in the middle of
\na presidential term.<\/p>\n
\"A snap election would be a bad precedence for democracy as
\npeople can easily resort to such means whenever they feel
\ndissatisfied with the incumbent president,\" he told media after
\naddressing the Perhumas nationwide public relations association
\nhere on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the country's second largest Muslim organization,
\nMuhammadiyah, urged Megawati to take the necessary steps to
\nprevent the situation in the country from worsening.<\/p>\n
\"Muhammadiyah asks the Vice President to take concrete steps
\nand will always support constitutional actions,\" Muhammadiyah
\nchairman Syafii Ma'arif said after meeting Megawati at her
\noffice.<\/p>\n
He said the current national leader has lost both social and
\nmoral legitimacy, which are fundamental to maintaining an
\neffective government.<\/p>\n
He contended that the meeting was not meant to demonstrate
\npolitical support for Megawati to take the lead of the country,
\nbut merely because of the great concern of Muhammadiyah over the
\ncurrent situation.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah's deputy chairman Din Syamsuddin said the Vice
\nPresident, who is also chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) clearly stated that she is
\nready to lead the country.<\/p>\n
\"Megawati clearly said that she has never supported Gus Dur
\nbecause, the PDI Perjuangan congress (in 1998) recommended her to
\nrun for presidency,\" Din said.<\/p>\n
\"All this time I worked as Vice President when actually I was
\nready to become president,\" Din quoted Megawati as saying.<\/p>\n
Separately, constitutional law expert Sri Soemantri doubted
\nthat the memorandum could bring Abdurrahman down.<\/p>\n
\"A memorandum does not always lead to a special session
\nbecause if the President can fulfill the demands of the
\nmemorandum, then the House would not issue a second one,\"
\nSoemantri said.<\/p>\n
Another expert Satya Arinanto, however said that it would be
\nvery difficult for the President to fulfill the demands as there
\nwere no clear standards to judge whether the President has
\nfulfilled the memorandum's demands. (02\/dja\/edt\/sim)<\/p>",
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