Gus Dur to address the nation on Friday

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid will make a nationally-televised address on Friday to alleviate tension simmering ahead of the House of Representatives (DPR) plenary session to be held on April 30, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Tuesday.

Speaking after meeting Abdurrahman at Bina Graha presidential office, Akbar said the address will be read out by presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar.

Akbar, who met with the President after an inauguration ceremony for 11 new members of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said the measure was proposed to Abdurrahman by a group of artists.

Abdurrahman also expects Akbar and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to accompany him on Friday, Akbar revealed.

"I still don't know whether I can make it because, if it's a government's function, what is the relevance of my presence there?" Akbar commented.

Akbar said he was asked by Abdurrahman to also appear on television to help calm down the political tension and to call for peace among the people.

"I had a meeting with the President for around 15 minutes. I was about to return home from the palace when one of his adjutants called me and said that the President wanted to see me," Akbar told journalists later on Tuesday at Golkar Party headquarters.

"Gus Dur asked me to appear on television with Ibu Mega some time around Friday night, in relation to a call for peace," he said, referring to the President by his nickname.

Akbar, however, said that he did not instantly agree with the idea as he would first ask Megawati if she agreed to the proposal or not.

Wimar later said that the address was aimed at "cooling down" heightened tension ahead of the DPR plenary session, which would decide whether to issue the second memorandum of censure against the President.

"We are actually still not ready to announce the President's planned appearance on TV since we still have many technical objectives that haven't been taken care of," Wimar said.

"But, since Pak Akbar has already revealed it to the press, I will not deny it," he added.

Wimar was quick to add that the President's national address on Friday and the proposed talks between Abdurrahman and his main political rivals were "independent of each other".

Wimar's statement arrives as thousands of Abdurrahman's loyal supporters from East Java threaten to swarm the capital's streets at the end of the month to defend the President.

Abdurrahman, who is under increasing pressure to resign over his erratic leadership and alleged involvement in corruption, has earlier warned that he might not be able to control his supporters if the DPR passed the second memorandum against him.

The President's supporters are expected to join a mass prayer, organized by the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization, on April 29.

They have also planned to stay in the capital until the following day, when the House will convene to evaluate the President's reply to its first memorandum. The House is also likely to issue the second memorandum in the plenary session on April 30.

Later on Tuesday, Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. said the President had asked him to go to East Java on Wednesday to call on Abdurrahman's supporters to stay away from Jakarta.

"I have been instructed to go to East Java tomorrow (Wednesday) to meet local leaders, who have hundreds of thousands of followers, and call on them to tell their followers not to come to Jakarta on April 30," Mahfud said.

He added that during the visit he also hoped to meet with Wiro Sugiman, coordinator of a group of radical Abdurrahman supporters, the Defenders of Truth, who claim that they are prepared to die defending the President.

Mahfud also said that Abdurrahman pinned his hopes of finding a peaceful solution to the political stalemate on Megawati.

"Everyone, not only the President, is pinning their hopes on Ibu Mega, because we have to admit that she now has a very decisive role," Mahfud said.

He also said Megawati's importance in the political crisis "cannot be denied".

The statement came as Megawati, who is gaining widespread support to replace Abdurrahman, was quoted by former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra as saying on Monday that she has given consent for her party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), to support the issuance of a second censure against the President.

Mahfud added that Abdurrahman had no objection to a second censure and saw it as "normal and acceptable", but he wanted to see its content first.

"On the process itself, the President has said go ahead. But we will have to see the content of the second memorandum first," he said, quoting the President. (02/byg/dja)