Indonesian president visits founding father's grave

In Jakarta, politicians have already begun arguing over who will take the vice president's post left vacant by Ms Megawati, threatening…

Indonesia's new President Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri visited her disgraced predecessor's heartland today as calls mounted for her to unveil a cabinet and get on with tackling the country's problems.

In Jakarta, politicians have already begun arguing over who will take the vice president's post left vacant by Ms Megawati, threatening to sour the coalition that dumped Mr Abdurrahman Wahid and gave her the job she had long coveted.

Security was tight as the newly-appointed president visited the grave of her father, founding President Sukarno, in the sleepy town of Blitar in East Java - the volatile political stronghold of Mr Wahid, who remains ensconced in the presidential palace in Jakarta refusing to accept his dismissal.

Caretaker defence minister Mahfud M.D said Wahid would quit the palace on Thursday and head to the United States for a check-up. It would be a face-saving way to ease him out and end the humiliation of his sacking by the top assembly on Monday.

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Megawati and the Sukarno family also command a large following in populous and often volatile East Java.

Since Wahid's downfall, neither East Java nor other parts of the unruly archipelago have erupted as many feared, astonishing Indonesians long used to wholesale political violence.