'Democratization should be implented in stages'

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid warned on Sunday that the country's fledgling democratic process could not be unduly hastened.

Speaking in a nationally televised address to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of National Awakening Day, Abdurrahman said that democratization should be implemented "in stages".

"Democratization can only be implemented in stages, not all at once," Abdurrahman said in a pre-recorded address.

The address came amid a deepening of the country's leadership crisis, in which the President is fighting for his political life against a House of Representatives bent on impeaching him or persuading him to step down in Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri's favor.

The DPR is due to convene on May 30 and is likely to call for a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to demand that the President account for his rule so far.

The rejection of such an account would mean Abdurrahman's ouster from the presidency.

Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, hundreds of students staged a peaceful rally on Sunday on the main boulevard of the state-run Gadjah Mada University to mark National Awakening Day.

The students called on the country's politicians to stop their bickering and start taking sides with the people.

"The ongoing bickering has the potential to spark conflict at the grassroots level, so the squabbling must be halted immediately," the protest's leader Sabihul Khair said.

The President on Sunday left for Kroya in Central Java aboard a special train that departed from Gambir station at 2:00 p.m. He is scheduled to return to the capital at 4 a.m. on Monday.

Calls for unity during the National Awakening commemorations were also expressed by several governors.

In Medan, North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin used the event to urge people to remember the National Awakening spirit to revitalize their sense of unity.

In his written address at a ceremony in Merdeka Field, Rizal said the National Awakening spirit has also helped to usher in a new era of reform which consistently renews itself to this present day.

It is especially pertinent now as Indonesia faces a time of crisis, he added.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara Governor Harun Al Rasyid made in similar appeal.

"Let us not be trapped in conflict and tensions between ethnic groups and religions," he said as quoted by Antara while stressing that such a spirit was key to Indonesia's future glory.

"Let us create a conducive climate so this region can again rise and develop itself." (44/emf)