Dr. (HC) KH Abdurrahman Wahid or familiarly called Gus Dur (born in Jombang, East Java, September 7, 1940 - died in Jakarta, December 30, 2009 at the age of 69 years) was an Indonesian Muslim figure and political leader who became the fourth President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. He replaced President BJ Habibie after being elected by the People's Consultative Assembly following the 1999 Election. His government was assisted by the National Unity Cabinet. Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency began on October 20, 1999 and ended at the MPR Special Session in 2001. Exactly on July 23, 2001, his leadership was replaced by Megawati Soekarnoputri after her mandate was revoked by the MPR. Abdurrahman Wahid was the former chairman of the Tanfidziyah (executive body) of Nahdlatul Ulama and the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). Gus Dur's first cabinet, the National Unity Cabinet, was a coalition cabinet that included members of various political parties: PDI-P, PKB, Golkar, PPP, PAN, and the Justice Party (PK). Non-partisans and the TNI were also in the cabinet. Wahid then began two government reforms. The first reform was to disband the Ministry of Information, the main weapon of the Soeharto regime in controlling the media. The second reform was to disband the corrupt Ministry of Social Affairs. In November 1999, Wahid visited ASEAN member countries, Japan, the United States, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan. After that, in December, he visited the People's Republic of China. After one month in the National Unity Cabinet, Coordinating Minister for Poverty Alleviation (Menko Taskin) Hamzah Haz announced his resignation in November. It was suspected that his resignation was due to Gus Dur accusing several cabinet members of corruption while he was still in the United States. Some suspect that Hamzah Haz's resignation was due to his displeasure at Gus Dur's approach to Israel. Gus Dur's plan was to give Aceh a referendum. However, this referendum determined autonomy and not independence like the East Timor referendum. Gus Dur also wanted to adopt a softer approach towards Aceh by reducing the number of military personnel in the Land of the Veranda of Mecca. On December 30, 1999, Gus Dur visited Jayapura in the province of Irian Jaya. During his visit, Abdurrahman Wahid managed to convince Papuan leaders that he was pushing for the use of the name Papua. In January 2000, Gus Dur made another overseas trip to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum and visited Saudi Arabia on his way back to Indonesia. In February 2000, Wahid made another overseas trip to Europe, visiting England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. On his way back from Europe, Gus Dur also visited India, South Korea, Thailand, and Brunei Darussalam. In March 2000, Gus Dur visited East Timor. In April 2000, Wahid visited South Africa on his way to Cuba to attend the G-77 meeting, before returning via Mexico City and Hong Kong. In June 2000, Wahid once again visited America, Japan, France, Iran, Pakistan, and Egypt as new additions to the list of countries he visited. In an effort to reform the military and remove the military from the socio-political sphere, Gus Dur found an ally in Agus Wirahadikusumah, whom he appointed as Commander of Kostrad in March 2000. In July 2000, Agus began to expose a scandal involving Dharma Putra, a foundation with ties to Kostrad. Through Megawati, members of the TNI began to pressure Wahid to remove Agus from his position. Gus Dur's relationship with the TNI worsened when Laskar Jihad arrived in Maluku and was armed by the TNI. Laskar Jihad went to Maluku to help Muslims in a conflict with Christians. Wahid asked the TNI to stop the Laskar Jihad's actions, but they still managed to reach Maluku and were armed by TNI weapons. On August 23, 2000, Gus Dur announced a new cabinet even though Megawati wanted the announcement postponed. Megawati showed her displeasure by not attending the cabinet announcement. The new cabinet is smaller and includes more non-partisans. There are no Golkar members in Gus Dur's new cabinet. ============================================================================================================ #DannyELgar