Talk of a state of emergency continues

JAKARTA (JP): Controversy over the issuance of state of emergency continued, as President Abdurrahman Wahid sent out conflicting signals over the matter following a call from the House of Representatives for a special session.

Despite his repeated denial and objections from military officials and ministers, Abdurrahman hinted several hours after the House's decision that he would take stern action to deal with the situation.

On Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab reiterated that declaring a state of civil emergency was not a feasible alternative and that ministers were still sticking to a compromise proposal.

"I don't think that (the state of emergency) is a viable option now. I have been suggesting compromise," Alwi, who is also Abdurrahman's close confidante, told journalists after the closing ceremony of the G-15 summit.

"It (the state of emergency) is not in our recommendation, the previous proposal still remains compromise, I think we will stick to that," he remarked.

Presidential spokesman Adhi Massardi also denied on Wednesday evening the possibility of the issuance of a state of emergency saying that the President does not currently have the intention to declare it.

However, protesters against the Assembly's special session, who met Abdurrahman on Wednesday night, gave a different statement on Thursday.

One of them, Martin Manurung, said that Abdurrahman would consider their demand for the issuance of the decree.

"Gus Dur has not yet fulfilled the demand but said that he was considering the same ideas that we were offering him," Martin told The Jakarta Post, addressing the President by his nickname.

Martin said that during the one-hour meeting, they read out a statement from supporters of Abdurrahman demanding the President declare a state of emergency, dissolve the House and hold a general election in the next six months.

"Gus Dur thanked us for the proposal and said that he would consider it. But he did not say that he would do it ," Martin added.

"He also refrained from mentioning the state of emergency decree, but he said that he would take stern action to deal with the current situation," he added.

The group additionally asked Abdurrahman whether he was certain that the Indonesian Military (TNI) would back him, should a state of emergency be issued, as most military officials had publicly expressed their rejection of the idea.

"I am sure that the TNI will stay loyal to their highest commander (the President)," Abdurrahman answered the group, as quoted by Martin.

The protesters who met Abdurrahman were Dita Indah Sari, Helmi Faisal, KH Asep Saefuddin, KH Mujib Imron, H. Fatur Rasyid, Sulaiman Haikal, Thamrin Amal Tomagola and Alexander Irwan.

The House, during Wednesday's plenary session agreed to call for a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly to demand Abdurrahman account for his administration's performance.

The special session could be an impeachment hearing for him, if the Assembly then rejects his speech.

Abdurrahman, in apparent moves to avoid the special session, had threatened to issue a state of emergency decree and had also offered a constitutional delegation of power to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had rejected the idea saying that it was not necessary to issue a state of emergency at the moment.

Earlier, one of Abdurrahman's close aides told the Post that if Abdurrahman wanted to issue a state of emergency, he should cement support from the TNI or wait until there was a situation that could justify triggering a state of emergency.

In a media conference after the closing of the G-15 summit on Thursday, Abdurrahman declined to comment on his political future following the House's call for a special session, saying that there will be a forum to answer the issue.

But he underlined that the House's decision did not affect him at all, especially during the summit.

"We didn't want the summit questions to be dominated by domestic affairs... For that there will be another forum that we will prepare for you tomorrow," Abdurrahman said in English at the media briefing.

When asked whether he was embarrassed that the House had shown great resistance toward him, the President replied: "I won't answer that ... If you ask (if there was) an influence, there was no influence at all (on the summit)".

Alwi said the President was not bothered by the House's decision and that a compromise would be "the most likely (possibility) for the future".

"We still have two months to go, two months means 60 days, a compromise could be reached in just one hour," he said. (dja)