President Abdurrahman Wahid’s chances of retaining office suffered another setback when the parliament [DPR] took the next step in the dismissal process by adopting a “second memorandum” on 30 April 2001.^[fn]This briefing paper follows Indonesia’s Presidential Crisis, ICG Briefing Indonesia, 21 February 2001.Hide Footnote The process began on 1 February when the DPR adopted its “first memorandum” accusing the president of violating his presidential oath and failing to take vigorous measures to suppress corruption. The second memorandum declared simply that the president had failed to heed the first memorandum and, in accordance with the constitutional process, gave him a further month to respond. If the president fails to satisfy the DPR within one month, the DPR has the authority to call a special session of the People’s Consultative Assembly [MPR] to consider his dismissal. Both memoranda received support from all the major parties except the president’s own National Awakening Party [PKB]. In the second vote, however, the 38 non-elected members of the Military/Police group opted to abstain in contrast to their support for the first memorandum.

The adoption of the second memorandum means that the president must reach some kind of compromise agreement with the main political parties before 30 May if he is to avert a call by the DPR to hold a special session of the MPR. However, even if the DPR decides to call for an MPR session, he will still have another two months to win over support because the MPR’s own procedures require its working committee to spend two months preparing for the special session. The MPR consists of the 500 members of the DPR plus 200 representatives of the regions and special groups in society.

If the slow-moving process is followed to the end, therefore, the special session of the MPR to consider the president’s dismissal could only be held at the beginning of August. Meanwhile the government seems paralysed as a result of the presidential crisis. Amidst fear of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the president, the rupiah has fallen further and the government has not yet been able to revise its budget in order to meet IMF conditions for the disbursal of already agreed financial aid.

Jakarta/Brussels, 21 May 2001