Indonesia's Wahid summons military chief

The Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) has pledged they will be loyal to"the people", not to "certain individuals or groups"

By staff and wire reports

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has summoned his military chief as the rift between the embattled leader and his armed forces grows, local media has reported.

Analysts say Wahid is becoming increasingly isolated in his battle to fend off impeachment as leading politicians and generals speak out against his stumbling rule.

The summons came after Admiral Widodo issued a written statement defending officers who had warned Wahid they would not support any declaration of a state of emergency for him to stay in power.

No details of Wahid's talks with military commander Widodo on Tuesday afternoon have been revealed.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, coordinating minister for political and security affairs, also attended the meeting in the presidential palace.

IN DEPTH Shadows over Indonesia

"There is no talk of a reshuffle (of top military posts)," Koran Tempo daily quoted a palace source as saying.

Separately, the president also met with Lt-Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, the chief of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) on Tuesday evening, The Jakarta Post and Kompas newspapers reported.

Ryacudu had assembled his forces in Jakarta on Sunday for a show of force and pledged their allegiance to "the people" and "not to certain individuals or groups."

Rumors have been rife in Jakarta that Wahid planned to replace its top military brass -- among whom were army chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and Ryacudu -- reportedly because they were uncooperative with his plan to declare the state of emergency.

Announcing a state of emergency would allow Wahid to dissolve the hostile parliament, which has twice censured the president for his alleged involvement in two multi-million dollar financial scandals.

Although Wahid has dismissed all reports, nothing has slowed down Jakarta's rumor mills.

The name of Lt-Gen Johny Lumintang, the Defense Ministry's secretary-general, emerged on Tuesday night as the rumored candidate for Endiarto's replacement, but some unidentified sources told Kompas daily that it was untrue.

Military's view

It is said that the military finds a more common ground with Megawati

In a press conference earlier in the day, Widodo had issued a statement, defending other military generals for opposing the plan to issue a state of emergency.

"All the statements by Indonesian military (TNI) chiefs recently published by the mass media reflect our position, particularly in relation to our recommendation not to issue the presidential decree, which we submitted to the president in January," Widodo said.

He said his recommendation over the state of emergency plan had been delivered in January -- which had been interpreted that Wahid had mooted the plan as far back as four months ago.

At that time, the parliament was preparing to censure the Muslim cleric for the first time over his alleged roles in the financial scandals.

In his statement, Widodo also said the military had met with Wahid on Saturday night to verify some of the rumors about the changes in the army leadership.

They were all unsubstantiated, according to the statement, which was read by Lt-Gen. Agus Widjojo, TNI chief of territorial affairs.

Widodo also appealed to the public to stop the rumors of an impending reshuffle, warning that it could make the troops restive.

However, he also stressed that there were procedures to follow a president to replace the top leadership of the military, which is a presidential prerogative.

"If people in this country want to have a professional military, then they must to keep us away from any political influence from outside (the TNI)," Widodo said.

The TNI chief also called on the nation's political leaders to find a compromise that will resolve the current national leadership crisis.

Megawati and the military

Parliament is due to meet next Wednesday, and is expected to propose the supreme People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to hold a special session that could lead to Wahid's removal from office.

It is widely believed that Wahid will be hauled before the MPR, probably in August, but it is still possible the assembly will be content with giving him yet another firm reprimand, analysts say.

However, if he is ousted, it is very likely that hugely popular Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri would succeed him.

She has remained silent on her ambitions, but the military is often seen to prefer her to Wahid as president.

"Over the last half year, the military has become more distant from the president … because of his style to say one thing one day, and another thing the next day," said Harold Crouch, Indonesia project director for the International Crisis Group.

The military has courted Megawati since they realize that Wahid will not stay in power very long, Crouch said.

According to Crouch, such a move would be logical because Megawati is Wahid's constitutional successor. Also, she has a nationalist stance, especially on the touchy issue of separatist movements in the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Many Indonesians fear Wahid's removal could trigger violence from his fanatical followers, while some Muslim clerics from East Java, Wahid's home province, have threatened that the province would declare independence if he is ousted from power.

Thousands of Wahid's supporters and opponents are expected to rally in the capital next Wednesday for the parliamentary session.

Wahid has so far rebuffed any political compromise, such as sharing more power with Megawati.

Reuters contributed to this report.