Wahid faces imminent dismissal

Wahid supporters gathered outside the presidential palace

The Indonesian parliament is set to dismiss embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid shortly and replace him with Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

But Mr Wahid refuses to step down, saying he will remain in the presidential palace even if the country's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), sacks him.

Indonesia

World's largest Muslim state and fourth most populous nation

Huge archipelago of 13,000 islands

Racked by separatist and sectarian violence

Hit by severe economic crisis

Early on Monday, Mr Wahid declared a state of emergency, suspending parliament in a last-ditch bid to stay in power by preventing impeachment hearings against him.

The hearings centre on accusations of corruption and incompetence - the culmination of a long-running constitutional crisis that has pitted parliament against Mr Wahid, who took office 21 months ago.

The MPR rejected the declaration of a state of emergency. The assembly's speaker, Amien Rais, said a new president would be installed in the next few hours - although no formal vote has yet been taken to remove Mr Wahid.

The police have thrown their support behind Megawati. And earlier the armed forces ignored Mr Wahid's order to dissolve parliament.

The Indonesian Supreme Court ruled that the declaration of a state of emergency was illegal.

Wahid supporters

Indonesia has been racked by sectarian and separatist violence costing thousands of lives since the fall of former President Suharto in 1998.

Megawati looks set to move to the top job

Mr Wahid likened his struggle to a jihad or holy war - language that could be very inflammatory in the current crisis, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Jakarta.

Several hundred supporters of Mr Wahid are demonstrating in Jakarta - far fewer than expected.

Mr Wahid has strong support in East Java, which has seen sporadic violence in recent months. There are reports of some small demonstrations there.

There were two bomb attacks at churches in Jakarta on Sunday, which left 60 injured.

Warning

Mr Wahid - a nearly blind Muslim cleric - has repeatedly warned that the giant country could break apart if the MPR removes him from office.

Wahid is refusing to go quietly

"The president considers the decree he issued as a jihad to save the state," said his spokesman.

The United States has voiced concern and urged all parties in Indonesia to show restraint.

Indonesia's neighbours in the Association of South-East Asian Nations say they cannot interfere in the country's internal politics.

MPs almost unanimously voted to reject the state of emergency, with all 38 members of the police and military faction in parliament joining the no vote of 599 of the 601 members.

The president considers the decree he issued as a jihad to save the state

Spokesman for President Wahid

The country's security minister resigned, and Jakarta's police chief ordered his men to guard the parliament building and ensure that the hearing could go ahead.

Megawati arrived at the heavily guarded parliament building just minutes before the hearing began, and was warmly applauded as she took a seat at the front of the chamber.

Live on TV

Announcing the state of emergency on television on Monday, Mr Wahid said he intended to establish a body to oversee new elections within a year, and he suspended the Golkar party.

Wahid timeline

1 Feb: Parliament censures Wahid over alleged corruption

30 Apr: Second censure from parliament

28 May: Corruption charges dropped

30 May: Parliament votes to impeach Wahid for 'incompetence'

20 Jul: Early impeachment session called

23 July: MPs reject Wahid's declaration of state of emergency

Golkar formerly provided the political power base of ex-President Suharto and become a major force in the campaign to oust Mr Wahid.

Megawati has long been thought likely to take over if the president is dismissed by parliament.

She leads Indonesia's largest political party, and is the daughter of the country's founding leader and former President, Sukarno, who was himself impeached by parliament amid political turmoil in 1966.

Parliament elected Mr Wahid in October 1999 as Indonesia's first democratic leader in more than four decades.

But relations soon deteriorated as his opponents accused him of failing to tackle an economic crisis or resolve secessionist conflicts in several provinces of Indonesia.

Moves to remove him from office began last year when he was linked to two corruption scandals, although police and prosecutors have cleared him of any wrongdoing.