No threat to presidency: Gus Dur<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid played down
\nincreasing calls for his resignation on Tuesday saying that he
\ndidn't see "any serious threat" to his grip on power.<\/p>\n
"No, I don't see any serious threat (to my presidency),"
\nAbdurrahman told a joint media conference with visiting German
\nPresident Johannes Rau.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman was speaking after talks with Rau at the Merdeka
\nPalace.<\/p>\n
"The international media has the wrong impression of
\nIndonesia, that I am cornered and weakened by the situation
\nhere," he said.<\/p>\n
"But, I can say to you now that this isn't true and that we
\nhave already passed the period of political crisis," the
\nPresident added.<\/p>\n
This was Abdurrahman's second statement in three days voicing
\nhis confidence that the political crisis would soon be over. He
\nsaid on Sunday the crisis that has been plaguing his 16-month-old
\ntenure would be settled in the coming two months.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman has been under pressure to step down following the
\nHouse of Representatives' decision to issue a memorandum of
\ncensure on Feb. 1 for his alleged involvement in two financial
\nscandals.<\/p>\n
The move could lead to an impeachment process against the
\nPresident.<\/p>\n
However, Abdurrahman was upbeat, for the time being, about his
\npolitical future after the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), Golkar and the military withdrew their
\nsupport for expediting the special session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly to impeach the President.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman was again displaying self-confidence when he
\nannounced that he would go ahead with his two-week trip to the
\nMiddle East and North Africa on Thursday.<\/p>\n
A Cabinet source said last week that Abdurrahman had actually
\nbeen advised by top security and political ministers to cancel or
\ncut short the trip due to heightened political tension in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
When asked to comment on a letter from the President's foreign
\neconomic advisors, Abdurrahman said it was "important" and that
\n"from that report, we realized that we still have cronyism and
\ncorruption."<\/p>\n
"We also have a lot of inefficiency, but in order to improve
\nanything we first have to strengthen existing laws, including
\nlaws on taxation, customs as well as improving government
\nbureaucracy," Abdurrahman said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman did not say, however, whether the government would
\nbow down to the central bank independence issue.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur, as the President is popularly called, also admitted
\nthat the country's judicial system remains one of the nation's
\nmajor weaknesses.<\/p>\n
"We have to improve the quality of the judges here, so a lot
\nof things have to be done in order to achieve that," he said.<\/p>\n
In a letter to Abdurrahman, which was made public on Tuesday,
\nadvisors said that "time and again economic progress and reform
\nis impeded by a sense of pervasive cronyism and corruption."<\/p>\n
The four advisors are Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew,
\nformer U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former Japan
\nambassador to Washington Nobuo Matsunaga and treasurer to
\nGermany's opposition Christian Democrats Ulrich Cartellieri.<\/p>\n
They also urged Abdurrahman to continue the government's
\nefforts to revamp the country's judicial system.<\/p>\n
"In any country, dealing with such problems would require long
\nand sustained efforts. What seems essential is that you signal to
\nthe country in unmistakable terms the necessity of undertaking
\nthat effort," the advisors said.<\/p>\n
"We believe Indonesia is poised at a critical juncture. It
\nmust build on a year of promising but still highly fragile and
\nincomplete economic recovery," the letter said.<\/p>\n
"That effort would be surely jeopardized - indeed made
\nfruitless - by failure to address certain issues, some endemic,
\nsome new," it added. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-threat-to-presidency-gus-dur-1447893297",
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