Abdurrahman Wahid warns off detractors

JAKARTA (JP): Political tempests continue to hit the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, who claimed on Saturday that there were continuous attempts by certain ambitious individuals to discredit him and his government.

Speaking during a meeting with members of the Association of Young Indonesian Businessmen (Himpi) at the State Palace, the President warned his opponents to stop their activities because the whole nation, including the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), fully backed his leadership.

He contended that there was no reason to attempt to topple his government because the House of Representatives (DPR) also totally supported him.

"There are efforts to discredit the government and me. (But) I'm not worried at all, because I am deeply confident that our people will not be instigated at all by all the campaigns," the President said without naming the protagonists.

Abdurrahman insisted that he would not mind if the Assembly decided to impeach him and replace him.

He assured that he would not resist such a move to replace him as the country's leader.

"If my fortune is poor and I'm dismissed by the MPR, it is OK, my life will be better. I will not lose anything," said the President.

The President, however, warned the Assembly that it might later regret such a decision, because it would not be easy to pick a new leader who was better than him. (prb)