Wahid warns critics: 'God is on my side'

The embattled president has returned to his political support-base in his home province of East Java

MOJOKERTO, Indonesia -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has told his opponents to back off warning that the country's constitution -- and God -- were on his side.

His comments come just weeks before a special session of the country's legislature is scheduled to debate his impeachment on charges of corruption and incompetence. The move could force him from office just 20 months into his rule.

"I will not give any accountability at the special session," the Muslim cleric told supporters after attending a religious ceremony Saturday in the town of Mojokerto in his political heartland of East Java.

Wahid aides have been trying to block any move to impreach him and are frantically lobbying the main political groups -- nearly all of which want him out of office.

Friends and foes

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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; and the relationship between the president and vice president.

These could either be used to reduce his power or remove him from office 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 that would allow the arrest of opponents.

"I am not afraid because God is with me," Wahid said Saturday.

The increasingly bitter row threatens to split the country, with Wahid appearing isolated from much of the political establishment -- he has already reshuffled his cabinet twice in recent weeks.

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.

But the police leadership was thrown into disarray by Wahid earlier this month when he sacked the police chief.

In turn he has refused to go saying that only parliament can fire him. Wahid has named a temporary successor as police chief though where his loyalty and that of the police force in general lie is unclear.

Wahid's options

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 that 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 Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of the former leader, although he went into hiding after sentencing late last year and remains a fugitive.

Reuters contributed to this report.