Abdurrahman Wahid, born
Abdurrahman Addakhil[1][2] (7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), colloquially known as
Gus Dur (help·info), was an
Indonesian Muslim religious and political leader who served as the
President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. The long-time president of the
Nahdlatul Ulama and the founder of the
National Awakening Party (PKB), Wahid was the first elected president of Indonesia after
the resignation of Suharto in 1998.
Like many
Indonesian names, "Abdurrahman Wahid" does not contain a
family name. The name "Wahid" is
patronymic. His popular nickname
Gus Dur, is derived from
Gus, a common honorific for a son of
kyai, from short-form of
bagus ('handsome lads' in
Javanese language[3]); and
Dur, short-form of his name, Abdurrahman.
[edit] Early life
Abdurrahman Wahid in his youth
Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil Wahid was born on the fourth day of the eighth month of the
Islamic calendar in 1940 in
Jombang,
East Java to
Abdul Wahid Hasyim
and Siti Solichah. This led to a belief that he was born on 4 August;
instead, using the Islamic calendar to mark his birth date meant that he
was actually born on 4
Sha'aban, equivalent to 7 September 1940. He was named after
Abd ar-Rahman I of the
Umayyad Caliphate
who brought Islam to Spain and was thus nicknamed "ad-Dakhil" ("the
conqueror"). His name is stylized in the traditional Arabic naming
system as "Abdurrahman, son of Wahid".
He was the firstborn out of his five siblings, and Wahid was born
into a very prestigious family in the East Java Muslim community. His
paternal grandfather,
Hasyim Asy'ari was the founder of
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) while his maternal grandfather, Bisri Syansuri was the first Muslim educator to introduce classes for women.
[4]
Wahid's father, Wahid Hasyim, was involved in the Nationalist Movement
and would go on to be Indonesia's first Minister of Religious Affairs.
In 1944, Wahid moved from Jombang to
Jakarta
where his father was involved with the Consultative Council of
Indonesian Muslims (Masyumi), an organization established by the
Imperial Japanese Army which occupied Indonesia at the time. After the
Indonesian Declaration of Independence on 17 August 1945, Wahid moved back to Jombang and remained there during the fight for independence from the
Netherlands during the
Indonesian National Revolution.
At the end of the war in 1949, Wahid moved to Jakarta as his father had
received appointment as Minister of Religious Affairs. Wahid went about
his education in Jakarta, going to KRIS Primary School before moving to
Matraman Perwari Primary School. Wahid was also encouraged to read
non-Muslim books, magazines, and newspapers by his father to further
broaden his horizons.
[5]
Wahid stayed in Jakarta with his family even after his father's removal
as Minister of Religious Affairs in 1952. In April 1953, Wahid's father
died after being involved in a car crash.
In 1954, Wahid began Junior High School. That year, he failed to
graduate to the next year and was forced to repeat. His mother then made
the decision to send Wahid to
Yogyakarta to continue his education. In 1957, after graduating from Junior High School, Wahid moved to
Magelang to begin Muslim Education at
Pesantren (Muslim School) Tegalrejo. He completed the
pesantren's course in two years instead of the usual four. In 1959, Wahid moved back to Jombang to
Pesantren Tambakberas. There, while continuing his own education, Wahid also received his first job as a teacher and later on as headmaster of a
madrasah affiliated with the
Pesantren. Wahid also found employment as a journalist for magazines such as
Horizon and
Majalah Budaya Jaya.
[edit] Overseas education
In 1963, Wahid received a scholarship from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to study at
Al Azhar University in
Cairo, Egypt. He left for Egypt in November 1963. Unable to provide evidence to certify that he spoke
Arabic,
Wahid was told when arriving that he would have to take a remedial
class in the language before enrolling at the University's Higher
Institute for Islamic and Arabic studies.
Instead of attending classes, Wahid spent 1964 enjoying life in
Egypt; watching European and American movies as well indulging in his
hobby of watching
football.
Wahid was also involved with the Association of Indonesian Students and
became a journalist for the association's magazine. After passing the
remedial Arabic examination, he finally began studies at the Higher
Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies in 1965, but was disappointed.
He had already studied many of the texts offered at the Institute in
Java and disapproved of the
rote learning method used by the University.
[6] Wahid attended
Karachi Grammar School
in Pakistan. In Egypt, Wahid found employment with the Indonesian
Embassy. It was during his stint with the Embassy that coup attempt was
launched by the
30 September Movement, which the
Communist Party of Indonesia was accused of leading. With
Army Strategic Reserves commander Major General
Suharto
taking control of the situation in Jakarta, a crackdown against
suspected communists was initiated. The Indonesian Embassy in Egypt was
ordered to conduct an investigation into the political views of
university students. This order was passed to Wahid, who was charged
with writing the reports.
[7]
Wahid's displeasure at the method of education and his work following
the coup attempt distracted him from his studies. Wahid sought and
received another scholarship at the
University of Baghdad
and moved to Iraq. There Wahid continued his involvement with the
Association of Indonesian Students as well as with writing journalistic
pieces to be read in Indonesia.
After completing his education at the University of Baghdad in 1970,
Wahid went to the Netherlands to continue his education. Wahid wanted to
attend
Leiden University
but was disappointed as there was little recognition for the studies
that he had undertaken at the University of Baghdad. From the
Netherlands, Wahid went to Germany and France before returning to
Indonesia in 1971.
[edit] Early career
Wahid returned to Jakarta expecting that in a year's time, he would be abroad again to study at
McGill University in Canada. He kept himself busy by joining the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES),
[8]
an organization which consisted of intellectuals with progressive
Muslims and social-democratic views. LP3ES established the magazine
Prisma
and Wahid became one of the main contributors to the magazine. Whilst
working as a contributor for LP3ES, Wahid also conducted tours to
pesantrens and
madrasahs across Java. It was a time when
pesantren
were desperate to gain state funding by adopting state-endorsed
curricula and Wahid was concerned that the traditional values of the
pesantren were being damaged because of this change. Wahid was also concerned with the poverty of the
pesantren which he saw during his tours. At the same time as it was encouraging
pesantren to adopt state-endorsed curricula, the Government was also encouraging
pesantren
as agents for change and to help assist the Government in the economic
development of Indonesia. It was at this time that Wahid finally decided
to drop plans for overseas studies in favor of promoting the
development of the
pesantren.
Wahid continued his career as a journalist, writing for the magazine
Tempo and
Kompas,
a leading Indonesian newspaper. His articles were well received, and he
began to develop a reputation as a social commentator. Wahid's
popularity was such that at this time he was invited to give lectures
and seminars, obliging him to travel back and forth between Jakarta and
Jombang, where he now lived with his family.
Despite having a successful career up to that point, Wahid still
found it hard to make ends meet, and he worked to earn extra income by
selling peanuts and delivering ice to be used for his wife's
Es Lilin (popsicle) business.
[9]
In 1974, Wahid found extra employment in Jombang as a Muslim Legal
Studies teacher at Pesantren Tambakberas and soon developed a good
reputation. A year later, Wahid added to his workload as a teacher of
Kitab Al Hikam, a classical text of
sufism.
In 1977, Wahid joined the Hasyim Asyari University as Dean of the
Faculty of Islamic Beliefs and Practices. Again Wahid excelled in his
job and the University wanted to Wahid to teach extra subjects such as
pedagogy,
sharia, and
missiology.
However, his excellence caused some resentment from within the ranks of
university and Wahid was blocked from teaching the subjects. Whilst
undertaking all these ventures Wahid also regularly delivered speeches
during
Ramadan to the Muslim community in Jombang.
[edit] Leader of Nahdlatul Ulama
[edit] Early involvement with NU
Wahid's family background meant that sooner or later, he would be asked to play an active role in the running of
Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU). This ran contrary to Wahid's aspirations of becoming a public
intellectual and he had twice rejected offers to join the NU Religious
Advisory Council. Nevertheless, Wahid finally chose to join the Council
when his own grandfather, Bisri Syansuri gave him the third offer.
[10]
In taking this job, Wahid also made the decision to move from Jombang
to Jakarta and to permanently reside there. As a member of the Religious
Advisory Council, Wahid envisioned himself as a reformer of NU.
At this time, Wahid also had his first political experience. In the
lead-up to the 1982 Legislative Elections, Wahid campaigned for the
United Development Party
(PPP), an Islamist Party which was formed as a result of a merger of
four Islamist parties including NU. Wahid recalled that the Government
actively disrupted PPP's campaigns by arresting people like himself.
[11] However, Wahid was always able to secure his release, having developed connections in high places with the likes of General
Benny Moerdani.
[edit] Reforming NU
By this time, many
[who?]
viewed the NU as a stagnant organization. After careful discussion, the
Religious Advisory Council finally formed a Team of Seven (which
included Wahid) to tackle the issues of reform and to help revitalize
the NU. For some members of the NU, reform in the organization involved a
change of leadership. On 2 May 1982, a group of high-ranking NU
officials met with NU Chairman
Idham Chalid and asked for his resignation. Idham, who had guided the NU in the transition from
Sukarno
to Suharto resisted at first but bowed down to pressure. On 6 May 1982,
Wahid heard of Idham's decision to resign and approached him saying
that the demands being made for him to resign were unconstitutional.
With urging from Wahid, Idham withdrew his resignation and Wahid,
together with the Team of Seven was able to negotiate a compromise
between Idham and those who had asked for his resignation.
[12]
In 1983, Suharto was re-elected to a fourth term as President by the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and began taking steps to establish the
Pancasila
state ideology as the sole basis for all organizations. From June 1983
to October 1983, Wahid was part of a team which was commissioned to
prepare the NU's response to this issue. Wahid consulted texts such as
the
Quran and
Sunnah for justification and finally, in October 1983, concluded that the NU should accept Pancasila as its ideology.
[13]
To further revitalize the NU, Wahid was also successful in securing its
withdrawal from PPP and party politics to allow it focus on social
matters instead of hampering itself by being involved in politics.
[edit] Election to Chairmanship and first term as Chairman
Wahid's reforms had made him extremely popular within the ranks of
NU. By the time of the 1984 National Congress, many began to state their
intentions to nominate Wahid as the new Chairman of NU. Wahid accepted
the nomination, provided that he had the power to choose who would be on
his leadership team. Wahid was elected as the new Chairman of NU during
the National Congress. However, his stipulation of choosing his own
team was not honored. The last day of the Congress had begun with
Wahid's list of team members being approved by high-ranking NU officials
including outgoing Chairman Idham. Wahid had gone to the Committee in
charge of running the Congress and handed in his list which was to be
announced later. However, the Committee in question was against Idham
and announced a totally different list of people. Wahid was outraged but
was pressured to accept the changes made.
[14]
Wahid's ascendancy to the NU Chairmanship was seen positively by Suharto and his
New Order
regime. Wahid's acceptance of Pancasila along with his moderate image
won him favor among Government ranks. In 1985, Suharto made Wahid a
Pancasila indoctrinator.
[15]
In 1987, Wahid showed further support for the regime by criticizing PPP
in the lead-up to the 1987 Legislative Elections and further
strengthening Suharto's
Golkar
Party. His reward came in the form of a membership of the MPR. Although
he was viewed with favor by the regime, Wahid criticised the Government
over the Kedung Ombo Dam project that was funded by the
World Bank.
Although this somewhat soured the cordial relationships that Wahid had
with the Government, Suharto was still keen on getting political support
from NU.
During his first term as Chairman of NU, Wahid focused on reform of the
pesantren education system and was successful in increasing the quality of
pesantren education system so that it can match up with secular schools.
[16] In 1987, Wahid also set up study groups in
Probolinggo, East Java to provide a forum for like-minded individuals within NU to discuss and provide interpretations to Muslim texts.
[17] Critics accused Wahid of wishing to replace the
Arabic Muslim greeting of "
assalamualaikum" with the secular greeting of "
selamat pagi", which means
good morning in
Indonesian.
[edit] Second term as Chairman and opposing the New Order
Wahid was re-elected to a second term as Chairman of NU at the 1989
National Congress. By this time, Suharto, embroiled in a political
battle with
ABRI
began to ingratiate himself with the Muslim constituency so as to win
their support. This venture reached a turning point in December 1990
with the formation of the Union of Indonesian Intellectual Muslims
(ICMI). This organization was backed by Suharto, chaired by
BJ Habibie and included Muslim intellectuals such as
Amien Rais and
Nurcholish Madjid as its members. In 1991, various members of ICMI asked Wahid to join. Wahid declined because he thought that ICMI encouraged
sectarianism and that it was mainly a means by which Suharto manoeuvred to remain powerful.
[18]
In 1991, Wahid countered ICMI by forming the Democracy Forum, an
organization which contained of 45 intellectuals from various religious
and social communities. The organization was seen as a threat by the
Government which moved to break up meetings held by the Democracy Forum
during the run-up to the 1992 Legislative Elections approached.
In March 1992, Wahid planned to have a Great Assembly to celebrate
the 66th anniversary of the founding of NU and to reiterate the
organization's support for Pancasila. Wahid had planned for the event to
be attended by at least one million NU members. However, Suharto moved
to block the event, ordering policemen to turn back busloads of NU
members as they arrived in Jakarta. Nevertheless, the event managed to
attract 200,000 attendants. After the event, Wahid wrote a letter of
protest to Suharto saying that NU had not been given a chance to display
a brand of Islam that was open, fair, and tolerant.
[19]
During his second term as Chairman of NU, Wahid's liberal ideas had
begun to turn many supporters sour. As Chairman, Wahid continued to push
for
inter-faith dialogue and even accepted an invitation to visit
Israel in October 1994.
[20]
[edit] Third term as Chairman and the lead-up to Reformasi
As the 1994 National Congress approached, Wahid nominated himself for
a third term as Chairman. Hearing this, Suharto wanted to make sure
that Wahid was not elected. In the weeks leading up to the Congress,
Suharto's supporters, such as Habibie and
Harmoko
campaigned against Wahid's re-election. When it came time for the
National Congress, the site for the Congress was tightly guarded by ABRI
in an act of intimidation.
[21]
Despite this, and attempts to bribe NU members to vote against him,
Wahid came through and was re-elected as NU Chairman for a third term.
During this term, Wahid began to move closer towards a political
alliance with
Megawati Sukarnoputri from the
Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI). Capitalizing on her father's legacy, Megawati had a lot of
popularity and intended to put political and moral pressure on Suharto's
regime. Wahid advised Megawati to be cautious and to avoid being
nominated as President during the 1998 MPR General Session. Megawati
ignored this advice and paid the price in July 1996 when her PDI
headquarters were taken over by supporters of Government-backed PDI
Chairman, Suryadi.
Seeing what happened to Megawati, Wahid thought that his best option
now was to retreat politically by getting himself back in favor with the
Government. In November 1996, Wahid and Suharto met for the first time
since Wahid's re-election to the NU Chairmanship and this was followed
over the next few months by meetings with various Government people who
in 1994 had attempted to block Wahid's re-election.
[22] At the same time however, Wahid kept his options for reform open and in December 1996, had a meeting with
Amien Rais, an ICMI member who had grown critical of the Regime.
July 1997 saw the beginning of the
Asian Financial Crisis.
Suharto began to lose control of the situation and just as he was being
pushed to step up the reform movement with Megawati and Amien, Wahid
suffered a stroke in January 1998. From his bed in the hospital, Wahid
continued to see the situation worsen with Suharto's re-election to a
seventh term as President and the student protests which would turn into
riots in May 1998 after the
killing of four students at
Trisakti University.
On 19 May 1998, Wahid, together with eight prominent leaders from the
Muslim community were summoned to Suharto's residence. Suharto presented
the concept of a Reform Committee which he had begun to propose at the
time. All nine rejected Suharto's offer to join the Reform Committee.
Wahid maintained a more moderate stance with Suharto and called on the
protesting to stop to see if Suharto was going to implement his promise.
[23]
This displeased Amien who was the most vocal out of Suharto's
opposition at this time. Nevertheless, there was no stopping Suharto's
fall and on 21 May 1998, he announced his resignation. Vice President
Habibie now ascended to the Presidency.
[edit] Reformation
[edit] Formation of PKB and the Ciganjur statement
One of the immediate effects of Suharto's fall was the formation of
new political parties. Under Suharto's regime, political parties had
been limited to just three; Golkar, PPP, and PDI. Now with his fall, new
political parties were formed, the most prominent of which was Amien's
National Mandate Party (PAN) and Megawati's
Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle
(PDI-P). In June 1998, many from within the NU community began
pressuring Wahid to form a new political party. Wahid did not warm up to
the idea immediately, thinking that this would result in a political
party which only catered to one religion and not willing to overrule his
own decision to take NU out of politics. By July 1998 however, he began
to warm up to the idea, thinking that establishing a political party
was the only way to challenge the organizationally strong Golkar in an
election. With that in mind, Wahid approved of the formation of PKB and
became the Chairman of its Advisory Council with Matori Abdul Djalil as
Party Chairman. Although it was clearly dominated by NU members, Wahid
promoted PKB as a party that is non-sectarian and open to all members of
society.
As opposition to the Government, Wahid, together with Megawati and
Amien were willing to adopt a moderate stance towards Habibie's
Government; preferring instead to wait for the 1999 Legislative
Elections.
[24]
Nevertheless, in November 1998, in a meeting at his residence in the
Jakarta suburb of Ciganjur, Wahid, together with Megawati, Amien, and
Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X reiterated their commitment to Reform. On 7 February 1999, PKB officially declared Wahid as their Presidential candidate.
[edit] 1999 elections and MPR General Session
Amien Rais and Abdurrahman Wahid converse during a session of the MPR.
In June 1999, Wahid's PKB entered the legislative elections. PKB won
12% of the votes with Megawati's PDI–P winning the legislative elections
with 33% of the votes. With her party decisively winning the
Legislative Elections, Megawati expected to win the Presidency against
Habibie at the MPR General Session. However, PDI-P did not have complete
majority and formed a loose alliance with PKB. In July however,
Amien Rais would form the Central Axis, a coalition of Muslim parties.
[25]
The Central Axis then began to consider nominating Wahid as a third
candidate in the Presidential race and PKB's commitment towards PDI-P
began to waver.
In October 1999, the MPR convened and Wahid threw his support behind
Amien who was elected as the Chairman of MPR. On 7 October 1999, Amien
and the Central Axis, who now had PKB on their side, officially
nominated Wahid as a Presidential Candidate.
[26]
On 19 October 1999, the MPR rejected Habibie's accountability speech
and Habibie withdrew himself from the Presidential race. In the hours
that followed,
Akbar Tanjung, Chairman of Golkar and Head of the
People's Representative Council
(DPR) made it clear that Golkar would support Wahid in his bid for the
Presidency. On 20 October 1999, the MPR convened and began electing for a
new President. Wahid was then elected as Indonesia's fourth President
with 373 votes to Megawati's 313 votes.
[27]
Displeased that their candidate had not won the Presidency,
Megawati's supporters began to riot and Wahid realized that for this to
stop, Megawati had to be elected as Vice President. After convincing
General
Wiranto
not to compete in the Vice Presidential elections and getting the PKB
to support Megawati for this election, Wahid was successful in
convincing the demoralized Megawati to compete. On the 21 October 1999,
Megawati competed in the Vice Presidential election and defeated PPP's
Hamzah Haz.
[edit] Presidency
Wahid's first Cabinet, dubbed the
National Unity Cabinet,
was a Coalition Cabinet which consisted of members of various political
parties: PDI-P, PKB, Golkar, PPP, PAN, and Justice Party (PK).
Non-partisans and the TNI (Formerly known as ABRI) were also represented
in the Cabinet. Wahid then went on to make two administrative reforms.
The first administrative reform was to abolish the Ministry of
Information, the Suharto regime's main weapon in controlling the media
while the second administrative reform was to disband the Ministry of
Welfare which had become corrupt and extortionist under the Suharto
regime.
[28]
In November, Wahid made his first overseas trip, visiting
ASEAN member countries, Japan, United States of America, Qatar,
Kuwait, and
Jordan. He followed this up in December by a visit to the People's Republic of China.
[29]
After only a month in the National Unity Cabinet, Coordinating
Minister of People's Welfare Hamzah Haz announced his resignation in
November. There was suspicion that the resignation was brought about by
Wahid's allegation that certain members of his Cabinet were involved in
corruption while he was still in America.
[28] Others suggested that Hamzah's resignation was because of displeasure towards Wahid's conciliatory stance towards
Israel.
[30]
Wahid's plan in Aceh was to give it a
referendum.
However, this referendum would be to decide on various modes of
autonomy rather than to decide on independence like in East Timor. Wahid
also wanted to adopt a softer stance towards Aceh by having less
military personnel on the ground. On 30 December, Wahid visited
Jayapura
in the Province which was then known as Irian Jaya. During his visit,
Wahid was successful in convincing West Papuan leaders that he was a
force for change and even encouraged the use of the name Papua.
[31]
In January, Wahid made another overseas trip to
Switzerland to attend the
World Economic Forum and visited
Saudi Arabia
on the way back to Indonesia. In February, Wahid made another trip to
Europe visiting the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Germany, and
Italy. On the way back to Europe, Wahid also visited
India, South Korea,
Thailand, and
Brunei. March saw Wahid visit
East Timor. In April, Wahid visited South Africa en route to the
G77 summit in
Cuba before returning via
Mexico City and Hong Kong. In June, Wahid once again visited America, Japan, and France with
Iran, Pakistan, and
Egypt as the new additions to the list of countries which he had visited.
[32]
[edit] Cabinet dismissals
While he was travelling to Europe in February, Wahid began asking for the resignation of General
Wiranto,
who held the position of Coordinating Minister of Politics and
Security. Wahid saw Wiranto both as an obstacle to his planned reform of
the Military as well as being a liability to his Government with his
alleged human rights abuses in East Timor.
[33]
When Wahid arrived back in Jakarta, Wiranto talked to him and seemed
successful in convincing Wahid not to replace him. However, Wahid would
change his mind and ask for his resignation. In April 2000, Wahid
dismissed Minister of Industry and Trade
Jusuf Kalla and Minister of State Owned Enterprises
Laksamana Sukardi. The explanation that he gave was that the two were involved in corruption, although he never gave evidence to back it up.
[34] This move soured Wahid's relations with Golkar and PDI-P.
In March 2000, Wahid's Government began to open negotiations with the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Two months later, in May, the Government signed a
memorandum of understanding with GAM to last until the beginning of 2001, by which time both signatories would have breached the agreement.
[35]
[edit] Other overtures toward reconciliation
In March 2000, Wahid suggested that the 1966 Provisional People's
Consultative Assembly (MPRS) resolution on the banning of
Marxism-Leninism be lifted.
[36]
Wahid also moved to establish commercial relations with Israel, which aroused the ire of many Indonesian Muslim groups.
[37] This was one issue that arose in the briefing given to a Palestinian parliamentary delegation in 2000 by
Riddhi Awad, their ambassador to Indonesia. Another issue was Wahid's membership in the
Shimon Peres Foundation. Both Wahid and his foreign minister
Alwi Shihab took offense at the inaccurate portrayals of the Indonesian President, and Alwi called for the replacement of Awad.
[38] However,
Nurcholish Madjid
pointed out that Wahid's personal neutrality toward the
Israel-Palestine conflict should yield to the feelings of the "majority"
of Indonesians, who support Palestine.
[39]
Wahid visited Israel six times. In an 2004 interview, he said, "I
think there is a wrong perception that Islam is in disagreement with
Israel. This is caused by Arab propaganda. We have to distinguish
between Arabs and Islam. Some people in Indonesia claimed that I was a
stooge for the West, but the fact that I am gaining in popularity all
the time dispels this idea, and shows that this is the view of only a
small minority of the elite. I always say that China and the Soviet
Union have or had atheism as part of their constitution, but we have
long-term relationships with both these countries. So then Israel has a
reputation as a nation with a high regard for God and religion — there
is then no reason we have to be against Israel."
[40]
[edit] Relationship with TNI
When he ascended to the Presidency, one of Wahid's goals was to
reform the military and to take it out of its dominant socio-political
role. In this venture, Wahid found an ally in
Agus Wirahadikusumah who he made Commander of
Kostrad
in March. In July, Agus began uncovering a scandal involving Dharma
Putra, a foundation with affiliations to Kostrad. Through Megawati, TNI
members began pressuring Wahid to remove Agus. Wahid gave in to the
pressure but then planned to have Agus appointed as the Army Chief of
Staff to which TNI top brass responded by threatening to retire and
Wahid once again bowed down to pressure.
[41]
Wahid's relationship with the TNI deteriorated even further when in July it was revealed that Laskar Jihad had arrived in
Maluku
and was being armed by the TNI. Laskar Jihad, a radical Islamic militia
had earlier in the year planned to go to Maluku and assist Muslims
there in their communal conflict with the Christians. Wahid had ordered
TNI to block Laskar Jihad from going to Maluku, but nevertheless they
still made it to Maluku and they were then being armed with what turned
out to be TNI weapons.
[42]
[edit] Buloggate and Bruneigate
2000 saw Wahid embroiled in two scandals which would damage his
Presidency. In May, the State Logistics Agency (BULOG) reported that
US$4 million were missing from its cash reserve. The missing cash was
then attributed to Wahid's own masseur who had claimed that Wahid sent
him to Bulog to collect the cash.
[43]
Although the money was returned, Wahid's opponents took the chance of
accusing him of being involved in the scandal and of being aware of what
his masseur was up to. At the same time, Wahid was also accused of
keeping US$2 million for himself. The money was a donation by the Sultan
of Brunei to provide assistance in Aceh. However, Wahid failed to
account for the money.
[edit] 2000 MPR Annual Session and Cabinet reshuffle
As the 2000 MPR Annual Session approached, Wahid's popularity with
the people was still at a high and politically, allies such as Megawati,
Akbar, and Amien were still willing to support Wahid despite the
sacking of the ministers and the scandals which he had been involved in.
At the same time however, they were asking questions of Wahid. At the
2000 MPR Annual Session, Wahid delivered a speech which was well
received by a majority of the MPR members. During the speech, Wahid
recognized his weakness as an administrator and said that he was going
to delegate the day-to-day running of the Government to a Senior
Minister.
[44]
The MPR members agreed but proposed that Megawati should be the one to
receive the task from the President. At first the MPR planned to have
this proposal adopted as a resolution but a Presidential Decision was
seen as enough. On the 23 August, Wahid announced a new Cabinet despite
Megawati's insistence that the announcement was delayed. Megawati showed
her displeasure by not showing up for the Cabinet announcement. The new
Cabinet was smaller and consisted of more non-partisans. There were no
Golkar members in this Cabinet.
[edit] Regional unrest
In September, Wahid declared
martial law
in Maluku as the condition there continued to deteriorate. By now, it
was evident that Laskar Jihad were being assisted by TNI members and it
was also apparent that they were financed by Fuad Bawazier, the last
Minister of Finance to have served under Suharto. During the same month,
the West Papuans raised their Morning Star flag. Wahid's response was
to allow the West Papuans to do this provided that the Morning Star flag
was placed lower than the Indonesian flag.
[45] For this, he was severely criticized by Megawati and Akbar. On 24 December 2000, there was
Terrorist Attack directed against churches in Jakarta and in eight cities across Indonesia.
[edit] Gathering political opposition
By the end of 2000, there were many within the political elite who
were disillusioned with Wahid. The most obvious person who showed this
disillusion was Amien who showed regret at supporting Wahid to the
Presidency the previous year. Amien also attempted to rally opposition
by encouraging Megawati and Akbar to flex their political muscles.
Megawati surprisingly defended Wahid whilst Akbar preferred to wait for
the 2004 Legislative Elections. At the end of November, 151 DPR members
signed a petition calling for the
impeachment of Wahid.
[46]
[edit] 2001 and removal from power
In January, Wahid made the announcement that Chinese New Year was to become an optional holiday.
[47]
Wahid followed this up in February by lifting the ban on the display of
Chinese characters and the imports of Chinese publications. In
February, Wahid visited Northern Africa as well as Saudi Arabia to
undertake the
hajj pilgrimage.
[48] Wahid made his last overseas visit in June 2001 when he visited Australia.
At a meeting with university
rectors
on 27 January 2001, Wahid commented on the possibility of Indonesia
descending into anarchy. Wahid then made the suggestion that he may be
forced to dissolve the DPR if that happened.
[49]
Although the meeting was off-the-record, it caused quite a stir and
added to the fuel of the movement against him. On 1 February, the DPR
met to issue a memorandum against Wahid. Two memorandums constitute an
MPR Special Session where the impeachment and removal of a President
would be legal. The vote was overwhelmingly for the memorandum and PKB
members could only walk out in protest. The memorandum caused widespread
protests by NU members. In East Java, NU members went around to
Golkar's regional offices and thrashed it. In Jakarta, Wahid's
opposition began accusing him of encouraging the protests. Wahid denied
it and went to talk to the protesters at the town of
Pasuruan; encouraging them to get off the streets.
[50]
Nevertheless, NU protesters continued to show their support for Wahid
and in April, made the announcement that they were ready to defend and
die for the President.
In March, Wahid tried to counter the opposition by moving against dissidents within his own Cabinet. Minister of Justice
Yusril Ihza Mahendra was removed for making public his demands for the President's resignation while Minister of Forestry
Nurmahmudi Ismail
was also removed under the suspicion of channeling his department's
funds to Wahid's opposition. In response to this, Megawati began to
distance herself and did not show up for the inauguration of the
Ministers' replacement. On 30 April, the DPR issued a second memorandum
and on the next day called for an MPR Special Session to be held on 1
August.
By July, Wahid grew desperate and ordered
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security to declare a
State of Emergency.
Yudhoyono refused and Wahid removed him from his position. Finally on
20 July, Amien declared that the MPR Special Session will be brought
forward to 23 July. TNI, having had a bad relationship with Wahid
through his tenure as President, stationed 40,000 troops in Jakarta and
placed tanks with their turrets pointing at the Presidential Palace in a
show of force.
[51]
On 23 July, the MPR unanimously voted to impeach Wahid and to replace
him with Megawati as President. Wahid continued to insist that he was
the President and stayed for some days in the Presidential Palace, but
eventually left the residence on 25 July for a trip overseas to the
United States for health treatments
