Megawati Inaugurated as Indonesian President

Abdurrahman Wahid, now the former Indonesian President, was impeached by the People`s Consultative Assembly (PCA, MPR in Indonesian) and, instead of him, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri (54) took over the fifth Presidency of Indonesia yesterday.

Mr. Megawati was inaugurated as the new President at the general meeting of PCA and will announce his new cabinet on July 25 to launch a new administration.

Mr. Wahid, the former Indonesian President, had confronted against the major political sectors after his connection to a financial scandal had been revealed. He issued a proclamation early in the morning that he will suspend the MPR`s activities and will hold a general election in a year. However, most lawmakers of MPR, the Military, and the Police boycotted the proclamation and rather impeached him to oust him from the presidential office.

However, Mr. Wahid ignored the MPR`s decision insisting his presidency, accelerating the conflicts between the both sides.

The city of Jakarta is full of tension between the Military and the Police who support the major parties and Mr. Megawati and the Islam sectors who stand for Mr. Wahid. Over 400 supporters of Mr. Wahid, shouting ``Save the President from death,`` gathered together in front of the Presidential Palace.

MPR decided to inaugurate Megawati Sukarnoputri as a new President and to impeach Mr. Wahid. 559 members out of the total 601 members of MPR decided to reject the proclamation of Mr. Wahid early in the morning and the two largest parties PDIP and Golkar Party had proposed the impeachment bill against Mr. Wahid and the request for the inauguration of Mr. Megawati as a new President.

Lee Jong-Hoon taylor55@donga.com