Cabinet plea for Wahid

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, APRIL 27. Indonesia's Cabinet today called upon party factions in the House of Representatives (DPR) not to issue a likely second memorandum of censure against the President, Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, on Monday.

The Wahid Government pointed to the ``situation'' in the country and asked that the second memorandum not be issued. Thousands of supporters owing allegiance to the President are already in the capital in what amounts to a show of support for the beleaguered President. There have been threats of violence from Mr. Wahid's supporters if the DPR takes steps to issue the second memorandum of censure. Given the current political climate, it is apparent that the memorandum will be one step short of impeaching the President. Interestingly, the Vice-President, Ms. Megawati Sukarnoputri, who normally presides over Cabinet meetings, has kept herself away from such deliberations with a spokesman for her saying that the Vice-President was not well.

There has been considerable speculation that the nature of the sickness is ``political'' and she wants to distance herself from the President. In case Mr. Wahid resigns or is impeached, the Vice-President will take over as President as per the country's Constitution. Ms. Megawati has already signalled that her party faction, the largest in the DPR, will support a second memorandum of censure.

After today's Cabinet meeting, the Justice Minister, Mr. Baharuddin Lopa, met the DPR Speaker, Mr. Akbar Tanjung, who is also the leader of the Golkar faction, and impressed upon the need for the House to show ``wisdom''. ``The Cabinet is hoping for some wisdom from House leaders by not issuing the second memorandum as the Cabinet is very concerned about the current situation,''the Justice Minister was quoted as saying in Jakarta.

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Section  : International
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