Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid held closed-door talks with two political leaders a day after they and other party chiefs snubbed his attempts to avert impeachment, an aide said Wednesday.
Wahid met Golkar party chairman Akbar Tanjung and United Development Party leader Hamzah Haz Tuesday, after they and other party bosses had spurned a crisis meeting Monday with the president, Wahid spokesman Adhie Masardi said.
The meeting went ahead before impeachment hearings in parliament scheduled to start on August 1, with lawmakers accusing Indonesia's first freely elected president of financial impropriety and incompetence.
Wahid, who adamantly denies any wrongdoing, vowed in Tuesday's meeting that he would not leave the presidential palace even if he was impeached, Tanjung told a news conference Wednesday.
"My job is to defend the constitution and if necessary, I will stay at the palace all by myself if I'm forced to do so," Tanjung quoted Wahid as saying -- JAKARTA (AFP)
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