Everything will be okay: President

Everything will be okay: President

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid played down on
Sunday security fears in the wake of rumored mass rallies between
people in support of and against him on Monday.

"God willing, there will be nothing," Abdurrahman said after a
meeting at the Merdeka Palace on Sunday morning to discuss
security in the capital.

However, without elaborating, he said that the authorities
were prepared should violence break out.

Also present in the meeting were Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Army Chief of Staff
Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police Chief Gen. Bimantoro
and chief of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Arie.
J. Kumaat.

Rumors have been circulating that rallies were planned for
Monday in support of a House of Representatives (DPR) probe into
Abdurrahman's alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

Monday is also the day the House special committee is due to
present their findings and recommendations to a closed plenary
session of the DPR.

The House's special committee is investigating the fraudulent
withdrawal of Rp 35 billion (US$3.3 million) from the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog) by Abdurrahman's masseur and also a $2
million donation from the Sultan of Brunei which the President
claims was a personal gift.

Abdurrahman said he was informed during the meeting that some
85,000 of his supporters were already on their way to Jakarta.

"This morning, Mr. Ryamizard (Riacudu, chief of the Army's
Strategic Reserves Command) reported that some 50,000 people from
East, Central and West Java are coming to Jakarta," Abdurrahman
was quoted by Antara as saying.

He also said he had been told by leaders in Banten province,
West Java, that 35,000 more supporters were preparing to head to
Jakarta to support him.

Abdurrahman's supporters are mostly from the Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU), the country's largest Muslim organization he had chaired
for years until his election to presidency in October 1999.

While the special commission was putting the final touch to
the conclusion of its months of investigations, Abdurrahman's
National Awakening Party (PKB) accused the commission of lacking
a legal basis and "has become the source of people's
disintegration."

"...Through the commission the House no longer performs its
controlling duty, but a systematic act of corroding the
government's legitimacy and character assassination in a bid to
oust the President," PKB deputy secretary Chatibul Umam Wiranu
said in a statement released on Sunday.

As a precaution, NU leaders issued a last-ditch call on all
its members, regardless of their political affiliation, to
refrain themselves from the use of violence.

"(Everybody) should uphold common sense in the forum to settle
political conflict which is held through honest, open and sincere
deliberation, for the nation's sake," the statement, signed by NU
lawmaking body's chief Sahal Mahfudz and deputy Masdar Faris
Mas'udi.

Later in the day, leader of the NU youth wing Ansor, Saifullah
Yusuf, said his organization could not be held responsible for
any violence on Monday.

"We have officially told them (NU members) not to go to
Jakarta and if they insist on going ... then it is no longer our
responsibility and the police should arrest them if necessary,"
Saifullah told The Jakarta Post.

In the West Java capital of Bandung on Sunday, House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung also called on both supporters and opponents of
Abdurrahman not to stage rallies at the DPR complex on Monday to
prevent violence from taking place.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the presidential office issued a
statement warning that "elements of the New Order" in the DPR
were trying to stage a political comeback by sabotaging the
country's reform movement.

The statement said that Abdurrahman would no longer apply a
"humanistic approach" to remnants of the New Order regime and he
will now have "only one option which is to implement a reform
agenda with zero tolerance".

"Members of the past regime, particularly those who were in
the political mainstream and bureaucracy, have been given an
opportunity to repent, learn their lessons and regain public
confidence ... but, after a one-year period, President
Abdurrahman Wahid is deeply disappointed to see that they've
wasted the opportunity," the statement said.

The statement accused the New Order remnants of applying "ends
justify the means" approach to meet their objectives, including
"reviving New Order power".

"So, if there is any one trying to prevent the reform agenda
from taking place, they will have to face the law and the
public," the statement said.

The statement shied away, however, from mentioning whether the
House special committee was also an attempt masterminded by the
New Order regime to undermine Abdurrahman's government.
(25/byg/dja)