President's supporters warn of rebellion in East Java

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of people braved heavy rain on Monday as they marched through the city's thoroughfares in a display of support for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, whose political legitimacy slid to a further low after the House of Representatives issued him a second censure.

In their last-ditch effort to prevent the issuance of the second memorandum of censure, the emotional supporters of the beleaguered President, mostly from East Java, warned that any attempt to oust Abdurrahman would spark a rebellion in the province that is one of the President's strongholds.

Wearing headbands and waving Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) flags, the demonstrators spread out banners which, among other things, said, "Long live Gus Dur" and "If Gus Dur falls, East Java separates", as they headed for the House, where 500 legislators were debating whether to rebuke the President for the second time.

The fanatic crowd was led by Fawaid As'ad from Asy-Salafiah Islamic boarding school in Situbondo, East Java. Many of those were participants in Sunday's mass prayer who defied their leaders' calls to return home immediately.

From early in the morning, the protesters began to gather at the National Monument (Monas) park near the Presidential Palace. After negotiating with the police who had earlier set up roadblocks at a number of main streets, they continued their march to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle at about 11 a.m.

"We are here to oppose the second censure, there will be bloodshed if Gus Dur falls," a man named Achmad from Lumajang, East Java, said.

Some of the supporters had undergone weeks of paramilitary training in East Java under the banner of the "Defenders of Truth" force.

Fears of violence failed to materialize as they eventually took a U-turn at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and moved back to Monas square. A roadblock of 20 buses parked on Jl. Sudirman kept them from the House.

"Pak Kyai asked us not to go to the House. We must obey it," one of the protesters said, referring to Hasyim Muzadi, the NU chairman.

"If Gus Dur is ousted however, we will strike back," added the protester from the East Java town of Pasuruan.

Included in the rally were 500 people grouped in the Blitar White Tiger Truth Defenders Front.

"We want to deliver our aspirations to the House, which we assume to have hampered the reform movement," the group leader Ahmad Tamim said. He, like other group members, wore a headband which read "Ario Blitar" (Blitar Knight).

"If only we had been allowed to by our ulemas, we could have broken the security cordon, since we were prepared to do so, no matter how many personnel were guarding the House compound," Tamim said.

He said his group had complied with the request of an East Java ulema M. Subadar, who informed them that the House had received 10 representatives of Gus Dur's supporters from East Java to deliver their message.

According to Tamim, the Blitar group, which came from 22 districts, arrived in Jakarta on Friday.

Some 150 supporters from another part of East Java who called themselves Sidoarjo Gus Dur Supporters Forum (FPGD) also turned up for the rally.

The supporters, who arrived in Jakarta on Saturday and were led by Pramono stretched out a long banner which read, "The House considers people are deaf, blind and stupid all the time".

"We just wanted to warn the House that it should not take a decision at its own whim or for the sake of personal or group interests," Pramono said.

He said that the second memorandum against the President was unnecessary as it was against the people's true wishes.

"We can accept the memorandum, but we cannot control people in remote areas," he said.

In the evening, most of the East Javanese boarded police trucks which took them to the Senen railway and bus stations.

Separately, 150 activists from 15 NGOs grouped under the Anti- New Order People's Front (Frarob) also staged a rally under a flyover near the House on Monday, demanding the dissolution of the House, the Golkar Party and the trial of corrupt officials from the New Order government.

"We don't care about the censure against Abdurrahman Wahid. We just want to see the legislature, which is home to a number of New Order cronies, dissolved," Reinhard Sirait who led the rally said. (01/02)