Thousands of students stake out the palace, parading thousands of posters. President Abdurrahman Wahid must resign, they say. Wahid's arch-foe Amien Rais, the speaker of the supreme People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), busily maneuvers in the background. He is seeking a scheme to speed up a special session of the MPR, which could knock Wahid off his perch anyway.

The scene changes quickly. The lines of Wahid supporters appeal to his likely succes