July 22, 2001, 11:00pm EDT INDONESIA'S LEGISLATURE REJECTS EMERGENCY DECLARATION Indonesia's top lawmakers rejected a declaration of emergency by President Abdurrahman Wahid, saying they will continue proceedings that will likely remove him from office.

Online NewsHour Special Report: Indonesia July 20, 2001: Examining President Wahid's continuing political struggle. Profiles: President Abdurrahman Wahid Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri Feb. 8, 2000: Indonesia's ambassador to the U.S. discusses political problems in his home country. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.   United Nations U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs	Wahid's declaration, issued early Monday morning local time, ordered the legislature to disband and told police not to allow lawmakers to convene. Police officials ignored the order, instead surrounding the parliament building to ensure the 700-seat People's Consultative Assembly could continue its impeachment hearings, the official Antara news agency reported. In all, 599 of the 601 assembly members present for proceedings against Wahid voted to officially reject the emergency declaration. Among them were all 38 members of a faction representing the military and police. Members not participating in the vote either abstained or refused to attend the session in protest. Assembly chairman Amien Rais told the BBC he expected vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri, a popular former presidential candidate herself, to be sworn in by mid-day Monday local time. "In a matter of ... hours he [Wahid] will be finished," Rais said. Police presence throughout Jakarta has been heavy throughout the weekend as the city's law enforcement remains on high alert. Two bombs exploded at churches in East Jakarta on Sunday injuring as many as 64 people and fueling worries the political unrest in the parliament building could lead -- as Wahid has warned -- to clashes the streets.
	A declaration of emergency
	Wahid's announcement came at 1 a.m. local time [2 p.m. EDT] during a national address from the heavily-guarded presidential palace. During the speech, much of which was read by an aide for the mostly blind president, Wahid indicated the state of emergency order was the only way to keep Indonesia from plunging into political chaos. "If these things are not stopped soon, it will destroy the united nation of Indonesia,'' he said, referring to moves against him in the assembly. "Therefore, with faith and responsibility to save the country and the nation and based on the will of most Indonesians, I, as a head of the nation, am forced to take extraordinary action.'' Along with the decree to dissolve parliament, Wahid suspended the activity of the Golkar Party -- the second-largest party in the assembly. Once the party of long-time dictator Suharto, whose rule ended in 1998, Golkar members have become a driving force in the push to oust Wahid. Wahid also ordered the next legislative elections to begin within a year's time. They had been scheduled for 2004. After impeachment proceedings began Saturday, the assembly ordered Wahid to appear Monday to account for his time in office and respond to allegations of corruption and incompetence. A rejection of that account would have resulted in Wahid's removal from office. But Wahid refused to attend the session, calling moves against him an act of treason. "Gus Dur [a nickname for Wahid] is an optimist," Alvin Lie, a prominent legislator, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "He will fight to the end. But this is the end."
	Charges and protests
	When Wahid became Indonesia's first democratically-elected president in 1999, lawmakers hoped the popular Muslim cleric could unite a nation of diverse cultures, languages and religions. Now many of those same lawmakers are working to remove him from power. Through two censure motions, the parliament has accused Wahid of embezzling $4.1 million in state funds and illegally accepting $2 million from the Sultan of Brunei. Wahid, 61, has steadfastly denied wrongdoing in either case, insisting the $4.1 million was stolen by his personal masseur and the $2 million paid for humanitarian relief in the country's war-torn province of Aceh. Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman cleared Wahid of all charges in May, but Indonesian law allows the legislature to continue impeachment proceedings against him. Wahid has warned that a decision to remove him from office could lead to widespread violence, especially among the 30 million members of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim organization he headed until his election in 1999. "As [former U.S. President Richard] Nixon said, the silent majority is with me," Wahid told The Washington Post May 13. "You should go with me to the countryside. Lines of people wait on the roadsides to see me." Moreover, Wahid says his departure from office would cause the nation of more than 17,000 islands to break apart. "If I step down, five provinces will proclaim their independence," Wahid said in May. "If this is perceived as a bluff, it is not."