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.