Gus Dur refuses to step down

Gus Dur refuses to step down

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid remained
unmoved despite loud protest on Monday by thousands of students
besieging the presidential palace calling for his resignation.

"I will not step down because my duty (as president) is to
maintain the territorial integrity of this country," Abdurrahman
told reporters after attending a cabinet meeting at the Bina
Graha presidential office.

The meeting was the first since Abdurrahman's return on March
7 from a two-week overseas trip to Middle East and North African
countries.

He reiterated his claim that "Aceh, Irian Jaya, Maluku and
Madura will immediately declare independence" if he resigns.

The President then played down increasing calls for his
resignation saying that "the students outside the palace were
only representing a small group".

Abdurrahman said he had asked his deputy, Megawati
Soekarnoputri, to be "proactive" in carrying out a power-sharing
agreement made after the annual session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) last year.

Abdurrahman, who was elected in October 1999 to serve until
2004, agreed in August last year to delegate some of his
presidential duties to Megawati after the MPR rebuked him for his
poor performance.

"Toward the end of the cabinet meeting, the President asked
the Vice President to take a more proactive decision-making role
in the economic, social and security sectors," Cabinet Secretary
Marsilam Simanjuntak later told a media briefing following the
cabinet meeting.

Marsilam said Megawati was asked to play a larger role both
when Abdurrahman was in the country or abroad.

"The President's request was aimed at enhancing unity and
synergy in the national leadership in a bid to accelerate the
economic recovery process and to reinforce the transition toward
a more democratic country," he added.

He said Abdurrahman asked Megawati to report to him on the
procedures and policies which she initiated.

Abdurrahman has been under strong pressure to resign after the
House of Representatives (DPR) censured him on Feb. 1 over his
alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

Critics have also accused him of failing to carry out reforms,
solve violent separatist activities and communal conflicts, and
lift the country out of its economic woes. (byg)