Indonesia's National Alliance Supports Wahid-Megawati GovtAmid rising struggle among political rivals in Indonesia, a just established 11-party National Alliance expressed its support to the government led by President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice-President Megawati Soekarnoputri.The alliance, which was established on Sunday by 11 nationalistic-based political parties, said it supported the president and vice-president to stay in power and deal with problems now faced by Indonesian people, the Suara pembaruan daily reported Monday. Chairman of the alliance RO Tambunan was quoted by the newspaper as saying that, "The support was provided for the sake of the national unity," adding that the current political and economic situation in the country is uncertain. The 11 political parties had contested in the general election in June last year, but they got a few seats in the parliament. Since May this year, political rivals of the President Wahid administration have criticized the government for failing to deal with the country's political and economical unstability. Some of the supporters of the former president Soeharto have played significant roles in the current political struggle in the country. The country's law making body of the People's Consultatives Assembly (MPR) is due to hold its annual session on August 7, during which the president is due to appear before the session to account for his nine-month in office. Some of the president's rivals have warned to conduct an impeachment during the session. But all factions of the MPR have declared a unified stance and vowed to reduce mounting political tension ahead of the Assembly's annual session. Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Akbar Tandjung also said that the session will not be designed to unseat Wahid. |
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