He must fight, or perish. According to Habibie's timetable, there are eight months before new general elections and 15 months before an electoral college can choose a new president. But it seems a significant portion of the population has already voted. And it is not helping. At few times in its history since Independence has Indonesia been in such danger.
Food is beyond the means of ordinary people.
Belief in government has collapsed. Anger and frustration are at explosive levels. The poor have launched a revolution without rules, a rebellion without leaders. They are succeeding in making the Indonesian state crumble from the bottom up. It is already happening, and the military's room to do anything about it seems awfully limited.