His enemies had plenty to celebrate by the end of last Thursday. President Abdurrahman Wahid ended up not only censured but facing a 'memorandum', the first step in a lengthy impeachment process. For many it was a dream come true.

It was a dramatic sentence but it was far from guaranteed. Until a few days before the vote looked unlikely to be so clear-cut.

The president's supporters had dared to predict victory but the predictions turned out to be