Rally in support of Gus Dur turns violent

JAKARTA (JP): A Golkar Party branch office in Pasuruan, East Java was attacked as rallies in support for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid continued on Sunday.

Riding vehicles and yelling support for the embattled President, some 75 angry people stoned the glass windows of the Golkar office in Paci district on their way back home from a mass rally in Bangil square.

No casualties were reported in the attack, Antara reported.

A witness, Ismail, told the news agency the incident happened suddenly so that nobody could stop it. He said another group of Gus Dur supporters arrived later in the day, but this time police were already in place to prevent further destruction.

The mass rally in Pasuruan was part of mass gatherings held almost simultaneously across East Java by people who pledged to keep Gus Dur in his current post until his term ends in 2004.

East Java is the main stronghold of Gus Dur supporters.

On Saturday, the protesters blockaded the road linking Situbondo and Banyuwangi with logs of wood placed in the streets, causing massive a traffic jam in the area.

A similar rally also took place in the Central Java capital of Semarang, when thousands of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) supporters converged at the local legislature to warn people of remnants of the New Order regime whom they accused of masterminding the move to topple Abdurrahman.

The foreseeable tension escalated after the House of Representatives censured Abdurrahman on Thursday over his alleged involvement in two financial scandals, dubbed Buloggate and Bruneigate. Many Gus Dur supporters believe the investigation into Gus Dur's role in the scandals is part of constitutional attempts to oust the controversial President.

Pressures for Abdurrahman to resign have mounted since then, including from People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais and other parties who catapulted him to presidency last year.

After overnight rallies, thousands of Abdurrahman's supporters took to streets on Sunday in the East Java towns of Pasuruan, Malang, Mojokerto, Probolinggo and Sidoarjo.

A group of activists claiming to represent the Alliance Forum of People and Students in Pasuruan held a speech forum at the cross road of the highway linking Malang and Surabaya, causing traffic congestion for four hours.

Among their demands was the dissolution of Golkar, which they accused of representing the interests of the old regime.

In Malang, Abdurrahman supporters grouped as the Anti-New Order Committee (KRAOB) took to streets in a motorcade. They criticized the result of the House investigation into the Bulog and Brunei scandals and accused Golkar and the loose coalition of Muslim-based parties called Axis Force of conspiring to oust the President through the House special committee.

In response to the rallies, chief of East Java's National Awakening Party (PKB) Choirul Anam said he had called on the party supporters not to take to the streets.

"We can only persuade, but we were unable to stop them. This was a spontaneous move to express their disagreement with the political elite in the House," Choirul said.

Meanwhile, calls for Golkar's dissolution were also aired by 11 Muslim-based political parties that are unrepresented in the House.

"Golkar should be held responsible for the country's hardships over the past years, so it should be dissolved as its presence hampers the reform movement," chairman of the alliance of parties Deliar Noer said in Jakarta on Sunday.

Rallies against Abdurrahman also continued on Sunday.

Speaking before around 10,000 supporters of the United Development Party (PPP) at the Alun-alun Utara square in front of Yogyakarta Palace, chief of the party's provincial chapter Fauzi A.R. said PPP followers in the town were fully behind the House in connection with its showdown with the President.

"PPP continues to urge the House to adopt follow-up measures as a political consequence of its censure against President Abdurrahman Wahid," Fauzi said.

"Gus Dur has failed in carrying out the reform mandate," he added.

Held under heavy rain, the gathering coincided with the party's 28th anniversary celebration.

Besides the PPP's local executives, also present at the celebration were deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Husni Thamrin and party activist Moedrick S. Sangidoe from Surakarta, Central Java.

PPP Yogyakarta also asked Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, to clearly state his stance towards Gus Dur's government.

"He once invited national figures including Gus Dur, Megawati, Amien Rais, and Akbar Tandjung to meet at his palace. He should not keep silent right now," Moedrick said.

Husni Thamrin further said that Gus Dur was only "buying time." (nur/swa/edt/har/dja)