Indonesians lose confidence in ailing Wahid, poll says

President Wahid

November 6, 2000
Web posted at: 10:01 AM HKT (0201 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- Just one year after sweeping to power on a wave of democratic euphoria, most Indonesians want President Abdurrahman Wahid sacked, according to a poll released on Monday.

Sixty-five percent of respondents in the Tempo newsweekly poll want the top legislature to hold a special session to dump Wahid, dogged by financial scandals, charges of incompetence and his failure to end communal bloodshed that has killed thousands.

Only 35 percent said he should be given more time.

Of those who want Wahid to go, 40 percent said he had failed to carry out his reform agenda and 30 percent said he was not competent to run the world's fourth most populous nation.

Only 20 percent of those who want him to stay think he is competent, while 41 percent said a year was not long enough and he should be given longer to prove himself.

Polling is in its infancy in newly democratic Indonesia and there is no previous survey to provide comparisons. The Tempo poll quizzed 520 people in Jakarta from October 27-29.

Asked if Wahid was toppled whether he should be replaced by his vice president, populist Megawati Sukarnoputri, and parliamentary speaker Akbar Tandjung as her deputy, 50 percent said no, 49 percent yes and one percent did not know.

The financial scandals and Wahid's failure to kickstart the economy, quell the communal and separatist violence, or end political bickering has raised doubts about the future of the jocular Muslim cleric and his shaky coalition.

Calls for Wahid to hand over to vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri or face impeachment are mounting as dissatisfaction with his confusing and sometimes bizarre leadership grows.

Wahid's own chief spokesman on Friday said the sickly, half-blind 60-year-old was incompetent and uncontrollable.

But Wahid has a good heart and is still the best choice to save the battered country, Wimar Witoelar told foreign correspondents.

Wahid, one of the world's most eccentric leaders, has probably its most eccentric spokesman in the former TV talk show host, a rotund, curly-haired man with a deep voice and quick wit.

"For this presidential office, the things that one hears outside basically are all true: you know, how disorganised it is...an uncontrollable president," said Witoelar.

"I can say with all the honesty I can convey here that this man is a good guy. I can also say that my man does not have the competence to govern."

Witoelar, jailed as a dissident by former President Suharto, was brought on board last month to help Wahid's ailing rule.

When Wahid became Indonesia's first democratically-elected leader in October, 1999, most Indonesians pinned their hopes on him to unite the country and lead it through the messy transition to democracy after three decades of Suharto's autocratic rule.

The ex-general was forced from office amid political and economic chaos in mid-1998 and replaced by his deputy, B.J. Habibie, until Wahid's rise.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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