JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's new President Megawati Sukarnoputri starts her first full day in office on Tuesday faced with the sensitive task of trying to coax her predecessor and erstwhile friend from the presidential palace.Abdurrahman Wahid, shocked over his sacking by the top assembly on Monday for incompetence, has refused to vacate the sprawling colonial-era palace in central Jakarta.
Megawati, the daughter of founding President Sukarno, is also expected to name a cabinet within several days to start tackling the political and economic woes that have made Indonesia one of Asia's most unstable and ungovernable states.
Foreign leaders, especially of Jakarta's anxious neighbors, have welcomed Megawati's accession from vice president and also praised the peaceful transition in the world's fourth most populous nation, more used to bloodshed when changing leaders.
Indonesia's 210 million people have also breathed a sigh of relief the violence that many feared would accompany Wahid's fall 21 chaotic months into his five-year term has failed to erupt.
Jakarta was quiet early on Tuesday. So too was Wahid's heartland in East Java, where some of his supporters have pledged to die for him but where Islamic leaders have urged calm.
Some 100-200 Wahid supporters from East Java camped out at a mosque near the palace overnight but said they wanted no trouble.
``We just want to express support for Wahid and show that many Indonesians still want him as president,'' Taufikurrahman, from the volatile East Java town of Pasuruan, told Reuters.
Megawatti's First Day in Office
- Author: Reuters
- Publish date:06/04/2001
- Section:WORLD HEADLINES