Indonesia's former president Wahid dies at 69 - Summary

Jakarta - Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first elected leader after the 1998 fall of the dictator Suharto's regime, died Wednesday after a long illness, relatives said. He was 69. Wahid's brother, Solahuddin Wahid, confirmed to the private television station MetroTV that Indonesia's fourth president, who served from 1999 to 2001, died at a Jakarta hospital.

Abdurrahman Wahid, known by his nickname Gus Dur, which means Honoured Holiness Abdurrahman, suffered from heart failure among other ailments, Dr Akmal Taher from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital said.

In a nationwide address, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his personal sympathy and that of the government and all its citizens.

"We have lost one of the nation's best sons," Yudhoyono said. "On behalf of state and government, I express my deep condolence, with praying and hope that he be received by Allah the almighty in line with his good deeds and dedication to the state and nation."

He ordered the people to lower the nation's red-and-white flag to half-mast for a seven-day period.

Thousands of people joined government officials, former government officials and politicians who went to the hospital as well as to Wahid's residence in the southern Jakarta suburb of Ciganjur to pay their last respects.

Abdurrahman Wahid had already been ill when he assumed the presidency. He had suffered two strokes before his term in office, was nearly blind and had to be guided by an aide everywhere he went.

"I am very sad because Indonesia is losing a great man, a leader of democracy, a character who always defended the weak and the minorities," said Rizal Ramli, who served as finance minister under Wahid.

Wahid was born August 4, 1940, in Denanyar village, Jombang, in East Java.

He dreamed of making Indonesia into a pluralistic, democratic society and in 1993 won the Magsaysay Award from the Philippine government for his efforts to develop inter-religious ties in Indonesia.

He also strove to build a society with freedom of expression and respect for human rights as its pillars. But he soon fell out of favor with the parliament that elected him and was impeached in 2001 for perceived incompetence and an unproven corruption allegation.

Although Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation with more than 230 million people, practices a more moderate form of Islam than is characteristic of the Middle East, Wahid was criticized by some clerics in the country for his ecumenism.

When others condemned Israel, he visited Jerusalem to accept a prize in honor of the assassinated Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin, and when other Muslim leaders joined in condemnation of the British author Salman Rushdie, Wahid stood alone in his defense.

Abdurrahman Wahid's wife, Shinta Nuriyah, and his youngest daughter, Inayah, were at his bedside when he died and President Yudhoyono and first lady Ani Yudhoyono were also visiting at the time, a relative told the VIVA news website.

Wahid fell ill while on a pilgrimage to the tomb of his father in the East Java district town of Jombang and was rushed to a local hospital, the report said. On Saturday, he was flown to Jakarta and taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

The former president's condition deteriorated after he underwent a tooth extraction Monday, the relative told VIVA.

"I was shocked because I did not think he would go so fast," former president BJ Habibie, who was Wahid's predecessor, said.

In 2000 Wahid was embroiled in a corruption scandal when his personal masseur fled, allegedly with more than 4-million-dollars of state funds. Wahid himself was accused of misappropriating donations from the Sultan of Brunei.

He was censured by parliament, despite his repeated denials of wrongdoing and the somewhat circumstantial evidence against him.

Over his last months in power he became increasingly politically isolated as he fought the national assembly (MPR) and its legislators' drive to have him impeached.

Repeatedly he threatened to declare a state of emergency only to see the military and police refuse to back him, and finally for parliament to call his bluff.

Wahid's last throw of the dice was to refuse to leave the presidential palace. But after a few days he backed down and his family said he had accepted the reality of the situation.

Wahid was scheduled to be buried at his home town, Jombang, East Java, on Thursday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301521,indonesias-former-president-wahid-dies-at-69--summary.html.