Indonesia's political parties were heading for a showdown over the leadership of parliament yesterday in a test of political power ahead of the October 20th presidential election.
The former ruling Golkar party's candidate is the favourite in the battle for the parliamentary speaker's job, a victory that would mark a second serious political setback for presidential frontrunner, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Ms Megawati's party lost its first real political test since winning the June parliamentary election when its candidate for the speaker of the top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly, was defeated on Sunday.
Instead, the position was won by Muslim figure and leading reformist, Mr Amien Rais, with the backing of Golkar and the so-called "central axis" of reformists, nationalists and small Muslim groups - all opposed to Ms Megawati's presidential bid.
Polls show Ms Megawati is the people's clear favourite - almost 10 times as popular as President B.J. Habibie - but her popularity and June parliamentary victory do not guarantee her the presidency.
The task of choosing the president and vice-president lies not with the public but with the 700member assembly, which includes all 500 parliamentarians. Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP) won the June poll with almost 34 per cent of the vote - far short of giving it a deciding majority in either the parliament or the assembly.
The presidential contest is boiling down to a battle between Ms Megawati, President Habibie and the charismatic Muslim leader Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, leader of the largest Muslim group in the world's largest Muslim nation.
Politicians say the central axis is lobbying Golkar to withdraw its support for Mr Habibie and rally behind Mr Wahid.
Some Golkar members want Mr Habibie dropped because of his unpopularity and the damage to his political standing caused by his links with the ousted former president Suharto, a banking corruption scandal and his handling of East Timor.
On Monday, Mr Habibie told reporters he was ready to face the assembly in his scheduled accountability speech next week to explain his 16-month rule. If the assembly rejects his report card, Mr Habibie's already faint hope of re-election would evaporate completely.
Golkar is pushing its chairman and former State Secretary, Mr Akbar Tandjung, for the speaker post, against PDI-P's Mr Soetar djo Soerjogoeritno. Only the 500 parliamentarians in the 700-member assembly are allowed to vote for the speaker. Meanwhile, an Indonesian student was killed yesterday when security forces broke up a protest outside a Sumatra city's military headquarters, witnesses said.
Witnesses said the victim was stabbed in the stomach by an unidentified person when about 20 troops chased a group of students. The military denied responsibility.
The incident occurred in the South Sumatra provincial capital of Palembang, about 440 km northwest of Jakarta.
At least 45 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a bus hit a cliff in Indonesia's West Java province yesterday. The bus hit a cliff in the highland area of Puncak, about 80 km south of Jakarta, which is also popular weekend holiday spot.