Indonesian Justice Minister Fired
Fueling speculation that Abdurrahman Wahid’s coalition government may be disintegrating, Indonesia’s justice minister was fired Wednesday after recommending that the president step down.
The departure of Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra came as 50,000 people in Wahid’s home province staged violent protests against attempts to impeach the president for alleged corruption. Parliament censured Wahid last week over the allegations.
Pro-Wahid mobs rampaged through Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, setting fire to the office of a rival political party.
Wahid said Mahendra was ousted after his Cabinet colleagues criticized him for publicly suggesting that the president should leave office over his alleged role in two multimillion-dollar graft scandals.
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