Word: wahid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
President Abdurrahman Wahid is unlikely to survive an impeachment vote in the Indonesian parliament, where he controls only 10 percent of the seats. But if his supporters decide to contest his ouster in the streets, the latest twist in Indonesia's tortured post-Suharto politics may provoke a bloodbath. And that's exactly what Wahid's supporters were threatening Tuesday, as they poured into Jakarta from his East Java stronghold, bearing machetes, sickles and the implacable conviction that the parliamentary challenge to the President is an assault on the 40-million strong Muslim organization he heads. Their mission: To stop...
...While the corruption charges were dismissed on Monday by Indonesia's attorney general (and they pale more than a little by comparison to the hundreds of millions the Suharto regime was accused of pilfering), Wahid's bigger problem is the competence charge. Originally installed by an alliance of Islamic parties and members of Suharto's GOLKAR party to deny Megawati the top job after she finished way ahead of all challengers in the first post-Suharto election, Wahid's erratic leadership alienated most of his allies as the country continued to languish in economic torpor and separatist rebellions threatened...
...After beating Megawati out for the top spot, Wahid had been canny enough to offer her the Vice Presidency as consolation two years ago. But while his equivocation on dealing with secessionist rebellions - and his decision to bow to Western pressure and decolonize East Timor - angered the generals, Megawati made common cause with them as heiress to the nationalist mantle of her father, Sukarno, who had been Indonesia's first president. Last week, Wahid sought to head off his ouster by offering to transfer most of his authority to Megawati, but the Vice President and her backers appear to have...
...erosion of Wahid's power was further underlined Monday when his cabinet and the security forces refused to back his attempt to declare a state of emergency. But with his supporters filling Jakarta's streets and threatening violence - and Wahid himself suggesting his home region may secede from the republic if he is ousted - the question becomes how hard he'll fight to stay in power...
...long at all. First, they want to get rid of Wahid, then give Megawati some semblance of an opportunity to rule. And then, when it looks like things don't get better, they'll make their own move...