DATE=3/1/2000 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=INDONESIA / WAHID NUMBER=5-45541 BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN DATELINE=JAKARTA CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: After four months in office, Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has earned a reputation for dropping bomb-shell policy statements that he retracts or amends in a matter of days. As the Indonesian government continues with its efforts to come to grips with a two-year economic crisis and the growing problem of separatism, the president's recent series of surprise comments has many wondering if it is strategy or just a bad habit. Patricia Nunan takes a closer look at the debate over the rhetorical tactics President Wahid employs. TEXT: A recent statement by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid came seemingly from out of the blue. /// ACT Wahid [speaking Indonesian ]/// Speaking to a group of Japanese investors he said: "Today Jakarta is under full alert by police because there are plans for large Demonstrations, but you might not be aware of it." Certainly the Japanese visitors listening to the president's speech were unaware of a security alert in the capital. As it turns out, so was most of the diplomatic community, local and international media -- and even some of the capital's security forces. Around Jakarta, there were no signs of increased security. In the end, no large scale demonstrations ever took place. It was not the first time the president dropped a surprise announcement -- prompting hypotheses about Mr. Wahid's methods. One theory is that the president is trying to throw the media off coverage of Indonesia's other problems - such as separatist movements and the economic crisis. Others think the president, caught in a power-struggle with country's powerful Armed Forces, is trying to divide its leadership through a tactic dubbed "confuse and conquer." Canada's Ambassador to Indonesia, Ken Sunquist, says the president's methods can be explained by his background. /// SUNQUIST ACT /// He is very much a Muslim cleric and a Muslim teacher, and so he is not our normal politician. He likes to think out loud. He will propose courses of action. He will expect people to rebut, he will expect people to argue with him. But he is first and foremost a teacher and I think, so very often we confuse his statements with those of most other politicians when you would accept it at face value that it's well thought out and well-planned. I think that he knows where he wants to go, but at the same time, he's hoping that there will be reaction to some of these questions. /// END ACT /// But not all of that reaction has been positive. Early in his administration President Wahid issued a series of contradictory statements about whether an independence referendum would be allowed for the breakaway province of Aceh. The speaker of Indonesia's national assembly, Amien Rais, says that only damaged the government's standing with the Acehnese. /// ACT RAIS /// That's why I whispered to him last Friday, "please my brother, don't ever easily give comments just like before. Previously you were an N-G-O activist, you were the leader of Nhadlatl Ulamat, now you have a different position, you are the president of 210 million people of Indonesia, so be more careful and before you say something think over again and again so it will become a good statement." /// END ACT /// Other Indonesian politicians have also expressed anger at statements by the president. Mr. Wahid raised fears of a military coup, last month, when he alleged some Armed Forces generals had held a "secret meeting" while he was on a trip to Europe. Mr. Wahid also accused top generals of knowing of an assassination plot the mid-1990's aimed at himself and the current vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri. Both allegations have been vehemently denied by the Armed Forces -- and condemned by some assembly-members. /// ACT -- sound of brokerage house computers /// Concern is also mounting that the president's statements may harm Indonesia's stock and currency markets, which are already struggling because of the economic crisis. After the president's comments about a security alert in Jakarta - the value of the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, dipped by almost a percentage point against the dollar. David Chang, the Director of TriMegah Securities in Jakarta, says while some Indonesians may understand the president's methods -- Mr. Wahid's alarming comments may sideline foreign investors. /// ACT DAVID CHANG /// I would say that the majority of the Indonesians understand and are prepared to discount a big percentage of what he says. Perhaps he may have other motives, he may not mean what he says. But unfortunately for a lot of foreigners who are overseas they may not be able to read between the lines. /// END ACT /// Presidential palace-watchers say other factors should be taken into account. President Wahid is almost completely blind. Some blame his off- the-cuff comments on the fact that he literally cannot read from a prepared statement. But that also means that the president depends on an inner-circle of advisers to read aloud to him every memo, every letter, every report and every newspaper to cross the presidential desk. Some fear that that the advisers may be subtly manipulating the president's policy by what they choose to share with Mr. Wahid, or how they choose to emphasize it. But for all the criticism, President Wahid has come out on top of almost every political reform issue he's tackled to date: forcing the resignation of a top general accused of human rights abuses and following up with a reshuffle of the Armed Forces' top brass; wrestling control of the bank restructuring agency and its 80 billion dollars in assets from interest groups within the national assembly; and gaining international sympathy for his efforts at political reform. For President Wahid it seems, there is method to what some call madness. NEB/PN/FC 01-Mar-2000 04:11 AM EDT (01-Mar-2000 0911 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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