Amien, Nurcholish urge Gus Dur to resign

Amien, Nurcholish urge Gus Dur to resign

JAKARTA (JP): As the House of Representatives (DPR) was
drafting its stance towards the results of an investigation into
the Bulog and Brunei financial scandals, calls mounted on
Thursday urging President Abdurrahman Wahid to announce his
immediate resignation over his alleged involvement in both
scandals.

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Amien Rais and
noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid aired similar statements
announcing that the President should not delay declaring his
resignation as the House is likely to issue a statement that will
recommend that a special Assembly session be held to impeach the
President.

"It's obvious that our President has committed fatal mistakes,
he had violated the presidential oath, the decree of the Assembly
and engaged in the abuse of power," Amien told a televised
interview with Metro TV news.

"Eight out of the House's 10 factions have accepted the
results of the special committee's investigation. And the eight
factions are lobbying the possibility of setting up an MPR
special session against Gus Dur," Amien said while referring to
the President by his nickname.

"There's an elegant and dignified fashion that Gus Dur could
take ... He could announce his resignation and the public would
forgive him of all his wrongdoings," he added.

Similarly, Nurcholish said the President should announce his
resignation rather than trying to maintain his seat.

"It's better for Gus Dur to resign than wait until the MPR
sets up a special session to impeach him," he said while
addressing a cultural event at the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM)
arts center on Thursday evening.

Despite signs that the House may issue a censure against him,
the President told cabinet members here on Thursday that he still
has the support of the Indonesian people.

"The President still thinks that the public support him, even
though not everybody would agree with this," Yusril told
reporters before attending an unscheduled cabinet meeting at Bina
Graha presidential office.

Yusril said Abdurrahman's comment was made during their
meeting on Thursday morning to warn the President that he was
facing a serious condition and that he could be censured by the
DPR and face impeachment.

"I told the President that the situation is serious and we are
worried that this could potentially lead to events similar to
those in May 1998," Yusril said referring to the fall of former
president Soeharto.

The warning came as the DPR, later in the day, voted
overwhelmingly to accept the special House committee's report
linking Abdurrahman to the two multi-million dollar scandals.

Yusril met Abdurrahman along with Coordinating Minister for
Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
Defense Minister Mahfud M.D., Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab and
Cooperatives Minister Zarkasih Noer.

The House special committee concluded that Abdurrahman "could
be suspected of playing a role" in the embezzlement of Rp 35
billion (US$ 3.9 million) from Bulog and that he was
"inconsistent" in explaining how he spent a US$2 million donation
from the Sultan of Brunei.

Yusril said that should a memorandum be issued, Abdurrahman
would have three months to amend his ways.

If Abdurrahman failed to change, Yusril said, a second
memorandum would be issued giving him a further one month. This
would be followed by a special session of the Assembly if the
President ignored the second memorandum.

Later on Thursday, presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told
a press briefing after the cabinet meeting that "the President's
full response will only be given after the whole process of the
DPR plenary session is completed".

Implying that Abdurrahman's involvement in the two scandals
was untrue, Wimar said Abdurrahman "believes in the public's
capability of differentiating between facts and interpretation".

Wimar dismissed rumors that some cabinet members and Army
Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto had tendered their
resignation during the cabinet meeting.

Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak said the cabinet
meeting discussed "the latest security and political situation"
in Jakarta and the country.

Marsilam added that "all cabinet members" attended "the second
cabinet meeting" on Thursday, except Energy and Mineral Resources
Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Trade and Industry Minister Luhut
B. Panjaitan and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman as they were
out of town. (byg/imn)