Indonesia's defiant President Abdurrahman Wahid today rejected impeachment moves as illegal and repeated a warning that he would declare a state of emergency if he could not strike a deal with his enemies.
Vowing to defend the nation and insisting he still has strong public support, Mr Wahid appealed to his millions of followers - some of whom have formed suicide squads - not to resort to violence to defend him.
The top assembly was due to meet this morning to bring forward an impeachment hearing scheduled for August 1st.
The capital Jakarta was calm, although hundreds of police and at least a dozen armoured personnel carriers guarded the parliamentary complex where the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which includes parliament's 500 members, was due to meet.
Mr Wahid said he would refuse the MPR's demand to appear on Monday to account for his 21-month rule and left open the possibility of declaring a state of emergency before his July 31st deadline, the day before the impeachment hearing had previously been scheduled to open.
"I have many options and I will implement those options if necessary," Mr Wahid said, appearing calm and undisturbed.
But it is unclear if he has enough support in the police or the army to carry out his threat to declare an emergency, which would give him the power to halt parliamentary processes and call a snap election.
Key generals have publicly opposed such a move, while legislators have said they would ignore it.
The MPR is widely expected to dump the ailing Muslim leader 21 turbulent months into his five-year term and replace him with his popular deputy, Mr Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president.
The political showdown has stoked fears violence may erupt around the battered nation. The world's fourth most populous country has never had a peaceful transition of power.
In a bid to appease the MPR and head off a showdown, Mr Wahid yesterday backed down from a threat to declare a state of emergency on that day to allow more time for a compromise.
But leading politicians, including MPR chief Mr Amien Rais, have already said it is too late to thrash out a peace deal.