Wahid warning of breakup as crisis deepens in Jakarta

Indonesia's crisis deepened yesterday with President Abdurrahman Wahid, desperately trying to cling to power, warning that the giant country could break apart if attempts to oust him succeed.

But his enigmatic vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who now holds the key to Wahid's future, left the nation on the edge of its seat waiting to find out whether she would choose Wahid's offer of a power-sharing deal or grab it all for herself.

"The vice-president said that she had yet to make a decision," her spokesman Bambang Kesowo said.

He said she wanted more time to study the implications, especially the legal ones. Under the constitution, power resides almost entirely in the hands of the president and some have argued that Wahid's proposal would require it to be rewritten.

Wahid reporters he had offered to share power with Megawati, effectively making her head of the government, to stave off attempts to hold a special session of the top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly, which has the power to sack him.

"One must take this [threat of a national split] seriously," he said in brief comments to reporters at the palace, shortly after a medical check-up. He declined to elaborate on his proposed deal with Megawati, saying "bargaining" was still going on.

Wahid supporters in the rebellious province of Aceh and his own political heartland of East Java had both asked him to become president, suggesting they would break away from Indonesia if the special session goes ahead.