China Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who is attending an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, commented on the situation in Indonesia by saying that China respects the choice of Indonesian people and hopes for early restoration of Indonesia’s social and economic stability.

Tang stressed that Indonesia is an important country in Asia, and one of the friendly neighboring countries of China. The friendship between the two countries will not be influenced by the change of Indonesian political situation, he said.

Indonesian lawmakers yesterday elected Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the country's founding leader, as the fourth president in as many turbulent years, sacking her predecessor for incompetence.

The supreme People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) dumped Abdurrahman Wahid just hours after he declared a state of emergency and tried to dissolve the legislature in a desperate pre-dawn bid to hold on to power.

As the MPR decided his fate, Wahid was holed up behind razor wire barricades in the colonial-era presidential palace, where aides said he laughed and joked over a lunch of soybeans and fruit and refused to leave.

There were no immediate signs of unrest yesterday.

After taking the oath of office, Megawati read a seven-minute speech urging all sides to accept her election.

"I call on all parties to accept this democratic process... this is the voice of the people which we must uphold," she said, dressed in a traditional white blouse and a batik sarong.

But it is unclear how Wahid will be forced from the palace. His aides have said he will refuse to stand aside.

And a big question mark also hangs over Megawati's own abilities and those of her new team, which her aides say may not be named for up to a week.

Megawati's party won the most votes in the 1999 parliamentary election but is still well short of a majority.

Like Wahid, she will be forced to rely on an inherently unstable series of alliances to serve out her term to 2004.

The leadership crisis which has paralyzed the nation for months has stoked fears of a return of the bloodshed that surrounded the downfall of Suharto in 1998.

Before the vote, Wahid likened his struggle to a jihad, or Islamic holy war, saying his emergency declaration was intended to save the state.

He refused to attend the MPR hearing and remained defiant.

"Yes, he'll stay," presidential spokesman Yahya Staquf told reporters when asked before the vote if Wahid would stay. "The president considers the decree he issued as a jihad to save the state."

He said the president would take "necessary action" to keep the country together. Asked what that action would be, he replied: "It will be announced later."

There was no immediate reaction from the palace to the vote.

But neighbours Thailand and Singapore welcomed Megawati's rise.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the change of president would benefit the entire region.

"The more stable Indonesia is, the more the whole region will benefit," he told reporters.

The country's beleaguered rupiah also rose more than 10 per cent and stocks hit a 10-month high on Friday.

There was no sign of unrest, either in Jakarta or in Wahid's political heartland of East Java where Muslim leaders ordered his supporters not to protest.

It is those supporters - some of whom have formed suicide squads - who many fear could turn violent and throw the country back into the widespread bloodshed which has usually marked a change of ruler in the world's fourth most populous country.

The only real sign of support for Wahid came from about 300 protesters, who yesterday rallied outside the presidential palace in support of Wahid. There were no incidents.

Troops were mostly absent from the streets of the capital, though two columns of tanks and armoured personnel carriers trundled through Jakarta in the morning.

(CIIC 07/24/2001)