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Megawati sworn in as Indonesia's vi
Subject: Megawati sworn in as Indonesia's vice president
Megawati sworn in as Indonesia's vice president
Victory expected to calm angry protests
October 21, 1999
Web posted at: 10:08 p.m. HKT (1408 GMT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in
as Indonesia's vice president on Thursday, a day after the country's
legislative body surprisingly rejected her as president.
Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid won Wednesday's presidential election by
60 votes over Megawati, who had been the popular favorite to replace the
Golkar Party's B.J. Habibie.
"I am very grateful of what has been achieved," a tearful Megawati said just
after the result of the vice presidential vote was announced. "Certainly my
first step is to give the best thing to the Indonesian people."
The People's Consultative Assembly easily elected the daughter of
Indonesia's founding
president, Sukarno, to the No. 2 post behind Wahid -- a position with added
importance
because of Wahid's frail health. Megawati took 396 of the 700 votes in the
assembly, topping
Muslim-oriented United Development Party's Hamzah Haz by 112 votes.
Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle holds the largest voting
bloc in
the assembly, but she was unable to put together enough votes for a
majority. Wahid's win set off
riots in the streets of Jakarta, where thousands of Megawati's supporters
had gathered
expecting to celebrate her victory.
Her election to the vice-presidency was expected to quell the violence.
Habibie withdrew from the presidential election after the assembly narrowly
rejected his
assessment of the successes and failures of his 16-month administration.
Habibie became
president after longtime dictator Sukarno resigned amid massive public
protests against
his long rule.
Wahid pushes for unity
The day began with four candidates -- Haz, armed forces chief General
Wiranto, Golkar
Party chairman Akbar Tanjung, and Megawati, nominated by Wahid's National
Awakening
Party.
Wiranto and Tanjung withdrew minutes before the voting began.
Megawati became the favorite for vice president after her loss Wednesday,
which
came in part because of a Muslim backlash against the idea of a woman
president as well as
concerns that as a political novice she would be an ineffective ruler.
But Wahid, a moderate Muslim cleric who stressed unity and quoted
Megawati's father in his inaugural address, had been widely expected to
nominate her for the post.
Many people believe that the 59-year-old Wahid, who has had two strokes in
recent years and is nearly blind, will not complete his five-year term.
Megawati would succeed him.
The capital was mostly calm Thursday as the legislators met. But fresh
violence erupted ahead of the vote on the main tourist island of Bali, as
hundreds of pro-Megawati protesters cut down trees and burned tires as
roadblocks in the city of Denpasar.
"The streets are totally paralyzed since many people are on the streets and
put
up roadblocks," one witness said.
There were no immediate reports of looting or violence, and it appeared that
the main tourist resorts at beaches outside the city were not affected.
Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa and Correspondent Marina Kamimura
contributed to
this report.
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