Political blackmail<\/p>\n
In his desperate attempt to cling to power, President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid has increasingly resorted to tactics such as
\nthreats, intimidation and political blackmail that have put the
\nnation on a dangerous course.<\/p>\n
It has now become clear that the President will stop at
\nnothing to prevent his downfall, even to the point of breaking
\nthe country's already fragile unity. To him, the end seems to
\njustify the means, even if it means further destroying the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman has continued to entertain the idea of declaring a
\nstate of emergency, solely to enable him to dissolve the House of
\nRepresentatives, arrest many of his political rivals, and prevent
\nthem from progressing their campaign to impeach him.<\/p>\n
The ongoing power struggle has certainly destabilized the
\ncountry, but the situation has not reached a point that calls for
\na draconian measure such as a state of emergency. Abdurrahman's
\npresidency may be in danger, but the rest of the nation is not,
\nthat is, unless he abuses his office.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman has made a number of threats as he has
\nhit back at his political rivals. He has warned of a violent
\nbacklash by his supporters if the House continues with the plan
\nto convene on Wednesday to consider calling for impeachment
\nproceedings against him. He has also repeatedly claimed that six
\nprovinces would declare independence if he were removed from
\npower.<\/p>\n
Whether these are prophecies, which is doubtful, or veiled
\nthreats, which is more plausible, such statements have raised
\nserious questions about the credibility of the President and
\nabout his commitment to the country and to the people who,
\nthrough a democratic election, put him in power 18 months ago.<\/p>\n
His warnings have come across more like political blackmail
\nthat cannot be tolerated. If he can really predict these things,
\nit should be his job as President to prevent them from happening.
\nInstead, he appears to have not only tolerated events, but at
\ntimes also encouraged or fanned them.<\/p>\n
Take as an example the attack by his supporters against
\nfacilities of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in Tegal, Central
\nJava, on Friday. There was not a single word in condemnation of
\nthe incident from the President. In fact, he has persistently
\nfailed to condemn every single violent attack by
\nhis die-hard supporters in the last few months, as they
\nintimidated his political rivals.<\/p>\n
Rather than serving him well, such Machiavellian tactics have
\nfurther alienated the President. He has lost the support of Vice
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri and the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI), both main pillars of his presidency. In the House of
\nRepresentatives, his only support comes from his own National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) that commands 10 percent of the seats.<\/p>\n
With little real support and with his credibility and
\npopularity plunging, the President has only a few things left to
\njustify his power, including the constitutional mandate until
\n2004 and the powers and privileges vested in him by the
\nconstitution. While these may be sufficient to keep him in power,
\nhe would be wrong, however, to abuse those powers and plunge the
\ncountry deeper into crisis.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is already in deep enough trouble as it is without
\nPresident Abdurrahman's contribution. Most of the troubles facing
\nthe country today are legacies of more than three decades of
\nmisrule. Nobody would attribute all of these troubles to the
\ncurrent President, who has been in charge for less than two
\nyears. Everyone also realizes that Abdurrahman had a daunting
\nand almost impossible task when he came to power in October 1999.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's record, however, has been disappointing to say
\nthe least. He has failed to arrest the rot, and has even allowed
\nthe country to be pushed to the brink of collapse. He may be
\nright in suggesting that Indonesia may be falling apart, but his
\nprophecy will become self-fulfilling if he continues to deploy
\ndestructive tactics in order to cling to power. If that were
\nreally to happen, God forbid, Abdurrahman might then be
\nremembered as the President who initiated the final blow in
\nIndonesia's destruction.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-blackmail-1447893297",
"image": ""
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