Gus Dur given three months after August

JAKARTA (JP): Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais has called on President Abdurrahman Wahid to improve his administration and gave him two to three months after the August General Session to achieve positive results.

"The Indonesia population of 210 million cannot be held hostage by one person named Abdurrahman Wahid. Whether or not he will continue (as President) will totally depend on the 700- member MPR, as it is stipulated in the democratic process," Amien told visiting students from various universities at his office.

The students aired concern that President Abdurrahman Wahid was plaguing the country with economic, investment, security and political uncertainties which they feared would lead to national disintegration.

Amien maintained on Tuesday that the General Session would not be used to unseat Abdurrahman.

"He should be given a chance for two to three months after August and if he fails to improve himself and the country's economy, the people's mandate (entrusted to Abdurrahman) should be returned," he told the students.

"It's up to the people. In the session, I will only bang my gavel for the democratic processes of the 700 MPR members," he added.

The students rallied at the House complex to demand that the Assembly prompt a vote of no confidence against the President in the upcoming session.

They said the Assembly should press the President to step down because he and his administration had failed to make any progress in their efforts to cope with the political instability and defuse the economic crisis.

In response to the demand, Amien said the majority of the Assembly's 700 members remained critical of the government and it was in their hands whether the President would continue to stay in power.

But he asserted the Assembly would not breach the rules on what the General Session was for and how it should be held.

"The Assembly should stick to the rules of the game on how the General Session should be organized and it should respect the Constitution, which stipulates a five-year term in office for the president," he said.

Meanwhile, Irzan Tandjung, an economics professor at the University of Indonesia, warned that the condition of the state would worsen if the President was forced to step down in the session.

"There is no guarantee that the political situation will get better if the current government is replaced. According to intellectuals across the country, the situation will get worse if we have a new government," he said.

He said the political instability had a lot to do not only with the government's poor performance but with the friction among elite political groups, security authorities' failure in restoring order and security and the poor behavior of the majority of legislators.

"My point is that replacing the government will not solve the national crisis," he said. (rms)