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Indonesian President Says Emergency Declaration Last Resort
Embattled Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid explains on Friday that his threat of declaring an emergency decree would only be used as a last resort.
Wahid made this statement to reporters at a military airbase in Jakarta right after he returned home from a five-day, three-nation trip on Friday afternoon, who was welcomed by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and several senior ministers.
"It's the last resort that will be taken if we cannot reach a win-win solution for the whole thing," said Wahid, "but I believe that we can achieve that conclusion satisfactorily," referring to the parliament's efforts to impeach him at a hearing of the People 's Consultative Assembly (MPR) set to begin on August 1.
Wahid said he was seeking a compromise to settle his standoff with a hostile parliament to prevent "embarrassment" on both sides.
"Basically since the beginning I have wanted a peaceful solution which can benefit both sides, or a win-win solution," Wahid said, "This is what we have to seek for."
He also brushed off as a "media twist" reports by members of his own National Awakening Party (PKB) on Thursday that he was preparing to change the chiefs of all three branches of the armed forces - the army, the navy and the airforce - before August 1.
The president also said he was not on the war-path either with Megawati, who has won widespread support to replace him should he be impeached, or with his political opponents.
The state of emergency would allow Wahid to dissolve the parliament and call snap elections.
The MPR, the country's top legislative body, will ask President Wahid to account for his 20 months of chaotic rule. A rejection of the account would end Wahid's rule.
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