President Gus Dur refuses to quit

President Gus Dur refuses to quit

JAKARTA (JP): Despite increasing calls for his resignation,
President Abdurrahman Wahid asserted on Friday that he would not
step down and stressed that he will serve his full presidential
term until it ends in 2004.

"No, I will not resign until my presidential terms ends,"
Abdurrahman said after Friday prayers in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

Abdurrahman brushed off resignation talk as "psychological
warfare".

He also dismissed rumors that the Indonesian Military Chief
Adm. Widodo A.S. and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto
would soon be replaced.

"No such thing like that is going to happen... because
replacing top military leadership can't be done just like that,
even if we wanted to replace a Dandim (military district chief),
it would take weeks (to consider), so it's virtually impossible
to replace an Army chief of staff in just three days,"
Abdurrahman said.

Abdurrahman laughed off rumors of his imminent resignation
saying the only thing that needs to go down right now is his
weight.

"Pak Wimar Witoelar (presidential spokesman) and I have been
advised by my medical team to lose weight," Abdurrahman quipped
to the laughter of everyone inside the mosque.

His remarks came amid heightened political tension in the
capital following the House of Representatives' decision late on
Thursday to issue a memorandum against the President for his
alleged involvement in two financial scandals.

Speaking earlier at the Merdeka Palace, Abdurrahman reiterated
his innocence in the scandals saying that "it is highly
regrettable" that data used by the House probe were "not based on
facts".

Thanks

But in an apparent bid to allay criticism and tension with the
legislature, Abdurrahman also said he thanked the House for
exercising its duty saying that the House probe into the two
financial scandals was "a significant contribution to the
country's democratic process and political education".

"I would still like to thank the DPR and hope that in the
future the DPR will come and work together with the executive in
solving problems that demand our attention," Abdurrahman told a
snap press briefing.

The House special committee's report concluded that
Abdurrahman allegedly played a role in the withdrawal and
disbursement of Rp 35 billion from the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog) foundation and that the President had been inconsistent
in explaining the US$2 million donation received from the Sultan
of Brunei.

Abdurrahman on Friday also apologized to the public for the
tension created by his political dispute with the House and
described it as part of Indonesia's political education.

"I would like to apologize to the public for the inconvenience
created during this process of political education," Abdurrahman
said.

Wimar, who was present at the press briefing, later
reiterated that Abdurrahman would not resign.

"No, he is not going to resign but he is going to act on the
mandate of the people to respond to questions from parliament and
also respond with a very clear call for the acceleration of
reform," Wimar said.

When pressed to elaborate on steps Abdurrahman would take to
accelerate reform, Wimar replied: "He will pull out all the stops
for action against KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) and
legal reform that has so far been hindered by the fact that
(Abdurrahman) has had to make compromises with political
partners."

"(Abdurrahman) will accelerate action against corruption and
violations of the law without having to conduct too many
political compromises," Wimar added.

Wimar said that "in the past, efforts to eliminate corruption
have faced difficulties as the President has had to make
political compromises with those who were involved in
corruption."

But now, Wimar said, since "it is clear that the public
demands accelerated reform, the President will feel free to carry
out reform with zero tolerance".

Meanwhile, outside the palace grounds thousands of people
staged a rally demanding Abdurrahman's resignation.

Some 3,000 grouped under the Indonesian Islamic Student
Association (KAMMI) marched from Al-Azhar mosque in South Jakarta
after Friday prayers to the presidential palace in Central
Jakarta.

They unfurled posters and two large banners stating: "There is
one word for Gus Dur: Resign" and "Gus Dur is not an ulema. We
only love ulemas".

The rally caused major traffic jams along Jl.
Sisingamangaraja, Jl. Jendral Sudirman and Jl. MH. Thamrin.

KAMMI, who also staged a huge rally to reject Megawati
Soekarnoputri as a presidential candidate two years ago, were
later joined by dozens of students grouped under the Indonesia
Student Consortium in front of the palace.

There were no major incidents during the protest.(jun/byg)