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)