Megawati's position in jeopardy: Amien

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nationwide protests against the steep rise in fuel, electricity and telephone prices have led to a plot by President Megawati Soekarnoputri's political opponents to depose her after less than two years in office.

Whether they are serious is still too early to judge, as lawmakers had previously agreed to maintain Megawati in power until she was due to end her term in 2004.

However, her long-time top opponent, Amien Rais, who chairs the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), said on Sunday the massive protests against the utility price hikes could put Megawati's position in jeopardy.

"I will not sacrifice myself for Mega," he said in response to escalating antigovernment protests.

Amien, who was one of those at the forefront of plots to oust Megawati's predecessor Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid from power in 2001, did not deny that Megawati's future fate had been a topic of discussion by MPR leaders and other senior members.

"I will not make any predictions. However, based on the (historical) reality in any country that if antigovernment protests, which involve a broad spectrum of the community, gain momentum, it indicates the government concerned is in a vulnerable position," he was quoted as saying in Surakarta, Central Java, by the detik.com news website.

Amien added that should Megawati wish to survive until 2004, she had to bow soon to public demands for her government either to cancel or delay the increases.

An additional cause of public resentment directed toward the government was its decision to approve the release and discharge policy exonerating corrupt debtors from criminal charges, and to sell state-owned telecommunications firm PT Indosat to investors from Singapore.

During a week of demonstrations against the utility price increases, both protesters and her political opponents raised demands for Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz to resign for their failure to side with ordinary people.

Speculation also surfaced that attempts to unseat Megawati or block her reelection bid in 2004 were imminent when Gus Dur and former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto recently had two low- profile meetings.

Political analysts have said that Megawati's opponents are exploiting the widespread protests to their political advantage to damage her image in order to court public support ahead of the 2004 general election.

However, they warned the nation of the huge social cost likely to arise if Megawati were replaced before 2004.