Wahid impeachment proceedings begin

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The People's Consultative Assembly has launched formal impeachment proceedings against President Adburrahman Wahid just 21 months after it picked him as Indonesia's first democratic head of state in four decades.

A few hours earlier, Wahid declared on national television that he would boycott the hearing, which he described as unconstitutional and treasonous.

An overwhelming majority of assembly members voted to proceed with the impeachment process with or without the cooperation of the president, who has repeatedly threatened to declare emergency rule and dissolve the assembly.

Some predicted he could be dropped within days and replaced by Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding leader, Sukarno.

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"Wahid has no chance at all," said Arifin Panigoro, a senior member of Megawati's party.

The assembly elected Wahid, 61, over Megawati in October 1999.

Initially, the nearly blind Muslim scholar enjoyed wide support amid hopes that he would deliver economic and democratic reforms after years of corrupt dictatorship.

However, relations quickly soured with lawmakers, who accused him of erratic policies and claimed that he was too frail after a series of strokes.

He also failed to quell communal and separatist conflicts that have killed thousands across the sprawling archipelago.

Corruption continued to flourish and attempts to prosecute those guilty of graft, including former dictator Suharto, mostly came to nothing.

Moves to impeach Wahid were launched last year after he was accused of involvement in two multimillion-dollar graft scandals. He denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by police and prosecutors.

Legislators, however, pressed ahead with their campaign against him and censured the president three times this year as a prelude to formal impeachment proceedings.

Wahid also antagonized the military by sidelining several top generals accused of rights violations and graft.

There were no reports of protests or violence in Jakarta or elsewhere even though political turmoil in the past has led to bloodshed.

Hundreds of troops and police guarded the parliament building as the 700-member assembly voted 592-5 on Saturday to move against Wahid. The rest either abstained or refused to attend in protest, including members of Wahid's minority National Awakening Party.

A 38-member bloc representing the military and police voted against Wahid.

Anthem

Lawmakers sang Indonesia's national anthem after the result was announced in a televised broadcast.

The assembly has demanded that Wahid appear before it on Monday to defend his record and address allegations of corruption and incompetence.

Wahid said on Saturday he would not deliver an accountability speech.

Instead, he pleaded with his political foes to strike a deal to save Indonesia's nascent democracy and prevent a wave of civil unrest.

"I will not attend this illegal meeting," Wahid said at a news conference at the state palace. "This is an act of treason."

Wahid predicted there would be a violent reaction to any move to impeach him, saying he enjoyed wide support among the people.

"Don't blame me if the crowd takes care of everything by themselves," he said. He urged his supporters to refrain from violence.

Wahid said there were no grounds for holding him responsible for the country's economic woes or for continuing separatist, ethnic and religious conflicts.

"Those were mistakes from the past" that could not be rapidly resolved, he said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.