Political blackmail

Political blackmail

In his desperate attempt to cling to power, President
Abdurrahman Wahid has increasingly resorted to tactics such as
threats, intimidation and political blackmail that have put the
nation on a dangerous course.

It has now become clear that the President will stop at
nothing to prevent his downfall, even to the point of breaking
the country's already fragile unity. To him, the end seems to
justify the means, even if it means further destroying the
country.

Abdurrahman has continued to entertain the idea of declaring a
state of emergency, solely to enable him to dissolve the House of
Representatives, arrest many of his political rivals, and prevent
them from progressing their campaign to impeach him.

The ongoing power struggle has certainly destabilized the
country, but the situation has not reached a point that calls for
a draconian measure such as a state of emergency. Abdurrahman's
presidency may be in danger, but the rest of the nation is not,
that is, unless he abuses his office.

President Abdurrahman has made a number of threats as he has
hit back at his political rivals. He has warned of a violent
backlash by his supporters if the House continues with the plan
to convene on Wednesday to consider calling for impeachment
proceedings against him. He has also repeatedly claimed that six
provinces would declare independence if he were removed from
power.

Whether these are prophecies, which is doubtful, or veiled
threats, which is more plausible, such statements have raised
serious questions about the credibility of the President and
about his commitment to the country and to the people who,
through a democratic election, put him in power 18 months ago.

His warnings have come across more like political blackmail
that cannot be tolerated. If he can really predict these things,
it should be his job as President to prevent them from happening.
Instead, he appears to have not only tolerated events, but at
times also encouraged or fanned them.

Take as an example the attack by his supporters against
facilities of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in Tegal, Central
Java, on Friday. There was not a single word in condemnation of
the incident from the President. In fact, he has persistently
failed to condemn every single violent attack by
his die-hard supporters in the last few months, as they
intimidated his political rivals.

Rather than serving him well, such Machiavellian tactics have
further alienated the President. He has lost the support of Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri and the Indonesian Military
(TNI), both main pillars of his presidency. In the House of
Representatives, his only support comes from his own National
Awakening Party (PKB) that commands 10 percent of the seats.

With little real support and with his credibility and
popularity plunging, the President has only a few things left to
justify his power, including the constitutional mandate until
2004 and the powers and privileges vested in him by the
constitution. While these may be sufficient to keep him in power,
he would be wrong, however, to abuse those powers and plunge the
country deeper into crisis.

Indonesia is already in deep enough trouble as it is without
President Abdurrahman's contribution. Most of the troubles facing
the country today are legacies of more than three decades of
misrule. Nobody would attribute all of these troubles to the
current President, who has been in charge for less than two
years. Everyone also realizes that Abdurrahman had a daunting
and almost impossible task when he came to power in October 1999.

Abdurrahman's record, however, has been disappointing to say
the least. He has failed to arrest the rot, and has even allowed
the country to be pushed to the brink of collapse. He may be
right in suggesting that Indonesia may be falling apart, but his
prophecy will become self-fulfilling if he continues to deploy
destructive tactics in order to cling to power. If that were
really to happen, God forbid, Abdurrahman might then be
remembered as the President who initiated the final blow in
Indonesia's destruction.