Gus Dur warns of 'national rebellion'

Gus Dur warns of 'national rebellion'

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid warned on Thursday
of a "nationwide rebellion" against the House of Representatives
(DPR) if its attempts to oust him continue.

Speaking at a seminar on the country's future, Abdurrahman
added that the DPR's attempt to impeach him was "legally
impossible".

"You can see that there will be a nationwide rebellion against
the way the legislature is currently doing its work," Abdurrahman
announced to the audience of a seminar organized by the firm, Van
Zorge Heffernan Political Economic Consultancy.

Speaking in English, the President repeated his old argument
that, according to the 1945 Constitution, a president could not
be held accountable by the DPR.

"The legislature and MPR (People's Consultative Assembly) now
want a legislative Cabinet ... which is legally impossible
because according to the 1945 Constitution, the government should
be presidential," Abdurrahman said.

"It should remain as such except in the case of treason
against the state."

Abdurrahman said the Constitution stipulates that, under the
presidential system, he should only be held accountable by the
MPR at the end of his term in 2004.

"So, in this respect, the second memorandum (of censure) is
something that is legally unnecessary and wrong," he said.

The motion to oust Abdurrahman has prompted thousands of his
loyal supporters from East Java to set up ready-to-die forces to
defend the President.

Abdurrahman again defended his supporters saying that their
actions were understandable "as the legislature has been
irresponsible to the point that it is trying to remove the
President."

He claimed that up to "400,000 people from all over Java,
Lampung and Sumatra" would stream into Jakarta later this month
and were ready to defend him if the DPR didn't back down from
demands for impeachment.

Abdurrahman also quoted a Christian activist, Soritua Nababan,
from the Batak Protestant Congregation (HKBP) as telling him: "If
you feel it necessary then you can call us and hundreds of
thousands of our members will come to Jakarta".

The President's supporters are expected to flood Jakarta on
April 29, one day before the DPR plans to convene a plenary
session to decide whether to pass a second censure motion against
Abdurrahman.

The supporters will join a mass prayer (istighotsah) organized
by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) at Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in
Central Jakarta.

With the likely prospect of violence, Abdurrahman said that he
was still open to negotiation and that he should be "humble ...
so that the political process will not go in such a way that
could make the whole nation fall apart."

"The basis of my policy is that we have to negotiate, but the
negotiation should not violate the Constitution," Abdurrahman
said.

He was apparently referring to his statement earlier that he
hoped to meet with Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, House
Speaker Akbar Tandjung and Assembly Speaker Amien Rais to seek
ways to end the political stalemate.

Akbar has said that the power-sharing formula between the
President and Megawati should top the agenda of the planned
meeting. Speaking to reporters on his visit to the town of
Purwokerto, Central Java, on Thursday, the Speaker of the House
renewed his proposal, saying it was a compromise worth seeking to
salvage the country.

Abdurrahman argued that he has already set his own terms
saying that the dialog should at least include security, law
enforcement and the economic crisis.

Abdurrahman's threat of national rebellion came as his
confidant, Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, said later in the day
that representatives of five major political parties would meet
this weekend to set the date for the "summit" dialog.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Abdurrahman at Bina Graha
office, Alwi said "senior officials" from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle, Golkar Party, National Mandate
Party, United Development Party and National Awakening Party
would meet on Saturday at an unnamed Jakarta hotel to hammer out
details of the planned dialog.

Meanwhile, a rival Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, led
by cleric Hussein Al Habsyi, again on Thursday voiced opposition
to NU's planned rally and threatened to confront Abdurrahman's
supporters if police and the military failed to prevent them from
running riot.

In a statement, released after their meeting, the ulemas, from
Jakarta, Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi, said the planned mass
prayers on April 29 had no legal basis according to Islamic law
and was politically motivated.

"In order to get closer to Allah (God), it's better for us to
pray every day at places where Muslims propagate Islamic values,
such as mosques, Islamic boarding schools and Islamic schools, so
that prayers could be conducted solemnly," Rachmat Sarmili read
out in a joint statement.

Habsyi said NU's mass prayer was an attempt to manipulate
religious values for political goals, and therefore had to be
called off.

"Mass prayers held in a yard is unknown in hadits (Prophet
Muhammad's deeds and sayings). It's just an abuse of religious
values for political interest that will fool people," he said.
(45/byg)