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)