MOJOKERTO, Indonesia - A combative Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, just weeks away from possible impeachment, on Saturday told his opponents to back off warning that the constitution, and God, were on his side.
The top legislative assembly is due to hold a special session from August 1 to discuss possible impeachment and force him to account for his turbulent 20-month rule which has seen Indonesia fall deeper into a crisis which began in 1997.
"I will not give any accountability at the special session," the Muslim cleric told supporters after attending a religious ceremony in Mojokerto in his political heartland of East Java.
Wahid aides have been frantically lobbying the main political groups -- nearly all of which want him out of office -- to try block any move to impeach him.
He is trying to keep four issues off the agenda in the special session -- the relationship between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government; his accountability report; his performance in the job; the relationship between the president and vice president.
These could either be used to reduce his power or remove it altogether, something only the top assembly has the authority to do.
"If there are any that refuse to sign the declaration (not to raise those four issues), then I have no other choice but to uphold the constitution," Wahid said.
That could include calling a snap election and declaring a state of emergency which could allow the arrest of opponents.
"The constitution cannot be taken for granted because it can dissolve Indonesia ... I am not afraid because God is with me."
The increasingly bitter debate threatens to split the country, with Wahid appearing isolated from much of the political establishment.
The military -- which has made little secret of its preference for his estranged Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri -- and the police have both rejected previous attempts by Wahid to impose a state of emergency.
The police leadership, however, was thrown into disarray by Wahid earlier this month when he sacked the police chief, who in turn has refused to go saying that only parliament can fire him.
Wahid has anyway named an effective temporary successor as police chief though where his loyalty and that of the police force in general lie is unclear.
The President on Friday said he had "many options," including a snap election, if legislators insisted on threatening to remove him from office.
Analysts say one of his few other options is to intimidate his opponents by putting his own fanatical supporters back onto the streets in protest.
Some have also made much of his new attorney general's plans to investigate some of his key foes over corruption which might encourage them to back down.
Several major opponents of Wahid first rose to prominence during the long and graft-ridden rule of autocratic former President Suharto who fell from office in 1998.
The government has had almost no success in bringing to justice those involved in corruption during those years.
One of the few was the youngest son of Suharto, though he went into hiding once he was sentenced late last year and remains a fugitive.
04:56 06-23-01
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