Thousands of protesting students tried to storm the Indonesian parliament yesterday.
It was the biggest demonstration yet against President Abdurraham Wahid since his election 15 months ago.
Police fired tear gas at the demonstrators in Jakarta as legislators considered an inquiry into corruption linked to the President.
The findings of an investigation into two multimillion-dollar scandals - Buloggate and Bruneigate - were presented to a parliamentary commission yesterday. The commission is expected to implicate Mr Wahid in the scandals when it reports to parliament on Thursday. Mr Wahid, who became the first democratically elected leader of the country in late 1998, said yesterday he had no intention of stepping down.
The students - many with their faces streaked with toothpaste for protection against gas - had dispersed by mid-afternoon but about 1,000 stayed in the parliament grounds, where police kept them apart from several hundred Wahid supporters.
However, Mr Wahid has the backing of the country's largest Muslim group, which claims 40 million members. He was quoted as saying more than 85,000 people were on their way to Jakarta to show their support for him. His own political party issued a statement condemning the parliamentary commission as illegal.
Mr Wahid has had repeated run-ins with parliament. Last week, he abruptly walked out of a meeting with the commission, refusing to be sworn in for questioning.
Crucially, he still appears to have the backing of the country's leading party, Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), headed by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.