What is brooding in the air?<\/p>\n
What will August be like for President Abdurrahman Wahid? Will
\nit be a mere routine of the annual president's accountability
\nspeech to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) or an
\nimpeachment-like process? Everybody has been touching on the
\nsubject on almost every radio or television talk show and also in
\nnews commentaries, which has been part of wishful thinking,
\nparticularly among the opposition camps.<\/p>\n
The people most responsible in getting the ball rolling, at
\nleast according to some media accounts, have been MPR Chairman
\nAmien Rais and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who are known to
\nhave eyed the country's presidential post in the past. While
\nAbdurrahman Wahid was on an overseas trip recently, both men \"had
\nwarned\" the former to be more careful with his political
\nstatements and to avoid making constitutional missteps lest an
\nimpeachment process be considered next August.<\/p>\n
The situation has become more confusing for outsiders as the
\ntwo mentioned politicians have often retracted their statements,
\nindicating there was nothing in their minds to even slightly
\npoint in that direction. The objective of their criticism of the
\nPresident was designed to \"correct\" Abdurrahman Wahid's steps and
\nput him back on the right track. But, of course, words of
\npoliticians are rarely to be trusted.<\/p>\n
While ideally economic issues or the situation of state
\nunemployment or the plight of teachers or Indonesia's massive
\ninternational debt burden should have been their pursuit of
\ndebate, they tended to be more willing to comply with the
\n\"impeachment\" game, aiming at truly pulling the President down,
\nthe rumors of which the President himself has come to believe in,
\nor so it seems.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid, being a cleric head of state, has
\nsaid he is willing to \"forgive\" the communists and retract a ban
\non the former Indonesian Communist Party, imposed by the MPR
\nunder the Soeharto regime dating back from 1966. The two
\npoliticians strongly contested this as endangering the national
\nsecurity. The media and the opposition have gleefully played up
\nthe dissenting views. The Armed Forces pretend to be neutral.<\/p>\n
Most people with common sense and a realistic look at the
\npower balance believe August will cause no problems for
\nAbdurrahman.<\/p>\n
GANDHI SUKARDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-is-brooding-in-the-air-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }