Thousands of Gus Dur's supporters stage rally

JAKARTA (JP): At least 2,000 people from various groups staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday in support of ousted president Abdurrahman Wahid.

The protesters, grouped under the banner of the Indonesian Islamic Students' Movement (PMII), the People and Student Forum for Democracy (Famred), the Oppressed People's Action Committee (Karat) and the National Democratic Forum, backed Gus Dur's decision to suspend the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives, as well as the former ruling party, Golkar.

Besides the youth organizations, several hundred Abdurrahman supporters from East Java grouped in the National Awakening Force also joined the rally.

Representatives of the groups delivered speeches, mostly condemning the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly as being engineered by people from the New Order regime.

The protesters unfurled posters and banners reading: "The President's decree is the people's voice" and "The special session is the work of the New Order and military".

Abdurrahman declared a state of emergency early on Monday morning, suspending the Assembly, the House of Representatives and Golkar.

The decree was rejected by the Assembly during the special session on Monday that ousted Abdurrahman from the presidency and appointed Megawati Soekarnoputri as President in his stead.

During the rally, Gus Dur's supporters almost became involved in a clash with hundreds of police officers when the former attempted to approach the presidential palace.

The protesters and riot police were involved in scuffles for a few minutes, but order was quickly restored.

It was not only demonstrators that gathered in front of Merdeka Palace; passersby and motorists also stopped by to see what was happening.

At about 5 p.m., Karat activists arrived at the palace in some 25 buses, joining thousands of other protesters.

The Karat activists had earlier traveled the city's main thoroughfares in convoy, and came close the legislative complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. However, they were prevented from actually approaching the complex. The protesters then marched to the palace.

Meanwhile, other activists grouped in the City Forum (Forkot), the National Democratic Student Front (FMND), and the Indonesian Student Executive Body (BEMI) walked from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the presidential palace.

Their leaders gave speeches warning the public that former President Soeharto's New Order forces were behind the Assembly special session.

They were of the opinion that the special session was held for the sole purpose of satisfying the political interests of people from the New Order.

These groups then joined the other groups who had been staging rallies in front of the presidential palace since morning. (jun)