Wahid leaves turmoil behind

Megawati will be in charge in the president's absence

By Richard Galpin in Jakarta

In the middle of his worst political crisis since becoming Indonesian president last year, Abdurrahman Wahid has left the country at the start of a long overseas tour to Africa and the Middle East.

At the beginning of February, members of parliament voted overwhelmingly to start the process which could lead to Mr Wahid being impeached over allegations of corruption.

Demonstrators keep up pressure as Wahid leaves

President Wahid's departure was marked by several small demonstrations by students demanding once again that he resign after being implicated in two financial scandals.

Speaking just before boarding his plane for Yemen, he appealed for calm but stressed he was not worried about leaving the country at such a sensitive time because Vice-President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, would be in charge while he was away.

Opposition lull

Even so, on Wednesday afternoon, he held talks with the defence and security ministers and top military commanders, including the head of the armed forces.

He is reported to have told them to maintain security properly under the guidance of the vice-president.

Some of Mr Wahid's opponents have compared this latest foreign trip with one taken by former President Suharto just before he was forced to resign in May 1998.

But it does seem there is something of a lull in the current campaign to topple President Wahid.

Even his more hardline opponents are now backing off attempts to speed up the process that could lead to impeachment.

It appears most members of parliament are now prepared to follow the constitutional route.

This gives Mr Wahid up to four months to reply to the censure motion MPs passed at the beginning of February.

The motion accused the president of breaking his oath of office and the constitution by allegedly indulging in corruption - a charge which he has denied many times.