JAKARTA, Indonesia — Already under siege from legislators out to impeach him, Indonesia's head of state on Saturday faced a new threat from police officers upset that their chief had been fired along with four key Cabinet ministers.
President Abdurrahman Wahid dismissed National Police Chief Gen. Suroyo Bimantoro Friday after riot police shot some Wahid supporters during political protests in his home province.
Wahid is revered as an Islamic holy man and sage in the region, and many there regard attempts to oust him as tantamount to sacrilege.
Wahid Saturday appointed a new security minister and new deputy police chief, acting as a temporary force commander.
However, Bimantoro and other senior police officers have said they will not accept the changes, which they said were illegal.
The nearly blind president was clearly angered by their stand, which has heightened tensions in Indonesia's political crisis. Wahid demanded strict obedience from the entire force and warned that any officer who did not accept his orders as commander in chief would be prosecuted for insubordination.
Wahid hopes the appointments will win back crucial support from Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri ahead of impeachment proceedings scheduled to start on Aug. 1. Legislators want him impeached on charges of corruption and incompetence.
Megawati, who is now Wahid's main rival, did not attend the appointment ceremony, raising speculation that a last-minute rapprochement is unlikely.
Wahid appointed retired Gen. Agum Gumelar, a close associate of Megawati's, to the security ministry, regarded as the most important post in the Cabinet. He also ordered Gumelar to mediate a peace deal with Megawati, who has repeatedly refused to make a deal that would save Wahid's shaky presidency.
Many analysts dismissed the change as empty political maneuvering and warned that it could backfire on Wahid because Megawati had not been consulted in advance.
"Friday's Cabinet reshuffle showed a president who has become more and more isolated, not only from the people, but also from people who were once his loyal and trusted aides," The Jakarta Post said in an editorial. It said the Cabinet increasingly resembled "a bunch of yes-men."
Hostile legislators, who want to replace Wahid with Megawati, say the dramatic cabinet changes will not deter them from pushing ahead with impeachment proceedings as planned.
Gumelar replaces former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also a retired general, who last week blocked Wahid from declaring a state of emergency as a way of stopping the national assembly from impeaching the president.
It was Wahid's third major Cabinet overhaul in the 19 months since he became the nation's first democratically chosen leader.