Showdown rocks Indonesia

DILI, FEBRUARY 2: The showdown between President Abdurrahman Wahid and General Wiranto threatens to plunge Indonesia into a new period of ...

DILI, FEBRUARY 2: The showdown between President Abdurrahman Wahid and General Wiranto threatens to plunge Indonesia into a new period of instability and increases the risk of a military coup, analysts said on Wednesday.

Wahid, who is abroad on a European tour, has called for the former Armed Forces chief Wiranto to resign immediately after an Indonesian inquiry implicated him in the violence which swept East Timor in September. But on Wednesday, a defiant Wiranto, who has defended his role as a 8220;protector8221; of the East Timor independence ballot, ignored the call from his President to quit the Cabinet.

Despite being in the eye of the storm, Wiranto who is currently the Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, blithely attended a Cabinet meeting, making no comment to the awaiting Press. His defiance of Wahid8217;s authority and wishes could not have been made clearer. Under the terms of the Indonesian Constitution, ministers 8220;shall be appointed and dismissed by the President8221;, who 8220;shallhold the highest authority over the Army, Navy and Air Force8221;. His refusal to bow to Wahid8217;s wishes comes as the Capital has been awash in rumours of a plot to carry out a military coup.

Armed forces TNI spokesman Air Marshal Graito Usodo said on Wednesday the Indonesian military was not planning a coup and was unhappy with the rumours. 8220;It8217;s impossible,8221; Usodo said, when asked at a press conference about the possibility of a coup. 8220;The TNI fully supports all decisions made by the President or the government whatever they will be, the TNI will accept that8221;.

Wiranto8217;s swaggering defiance has had an immediate impact on an already jittery country, where whole provinces have been swept by unrest over the past months which has cost thousands of lives. The Jakarta Stock Exchange on Wednesday continued a slide which began on Tuesday when it ended three per cent down, dragging the vulnerable rupiah currency with it. However, Wahid, as well as most of the Indonesian political class, Defence attaches andmilitary analysts seem to dismiss the possibility of a 8220;Pakistan-style coup8221;, where the military seized power overnight in a bloodless move.

Kusmanto Anggoro, an analyst at the Centre for International and Strategic Studies, also warned 8220;there will be more riots8221; and the 8220;hand of Wiranto as well as of Suharto will be behind it8221;. 8220;Two or three days of violence and pillage in Jakarta and it will be easy to find enough members of Parliament and even ministers to call on the Army restore order,8221; said one high-ranking diplomat from an Islamic country.

Wahid, the first democractically-elected Indonesian President, can count on the backing of the international community, especially Britain and Europe where he is on an official visit.