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Nerves & Rumors. In Amsterdam, London and New York, investment bankers waited nervously for each new report from Djakarta. Then at midweek Premier Djuanda announced that Sukarno was tired and exhausted from overwork, would leave shortly for rest and recuperation in a friendly country, presumably India or Egypt. In Sukarno's absence, Parliament Speaker Sartono would serve as Acting President, working in cooperation with Premier Djuanda and Major General Abdul Haris Nasution, chief of staff of the Indonesian army. There was talk that former Vice President Mohammed Hatta, who resigned last year in protest against Sukarno's attempt to set up a "guided democracy'' in partnership with the Communists, might return to office.
Instantly. Dutch newspapers blossomed with stories that Sukarno had been arrested by the army. Amsterdam stock-exchange prices shot up sirarply. They continued to rise even after Sukarno summoned newsmen to the white-columned presidential palace to prove that he was still free and in office. "Here I am," said Sukarno, "happy and gay." But he looked unhappy, and he refused to answer questions; the prices in Amsterdam edged still farther upward.
Indonesian leaders insisted that the trip would be a vacation, pure and simple. Sukarno's nerves had been "shattered" by the assassination attempt, they said. To back up their claim, they pointed to the fact that three physicians had certified that the President "should go abroad for distraction." They did not point out that none of the physicians had actually made a detailed examination of Sukarno, or that one other highly respected doctor, asked to make a similar certification, had refused to do so without properly examining the President. Sukarno refused to submit to the examination.
Man in the Saddle. The Communists would hate to see him leave at this critical moment. In recent months, Communist Boss D. N. Aidit has increasingly had Sukarno's ear; politically, Sukarno has become increasingly dependent on the Reds as his earlier supporters became disillusioned. But even before Sukarno left the country, General Nasution, who participated in an abortive anti-Sukarno coup in 1952, was moving like a man firmly in the saddle. Backed by Premier Djuanda and most other Indonesian moderates of all parties, he ordered all worker seizures of Dutch properties to stop immediately. All army leaves were canceled, troops ordered into battle readiness and put on a stand-by basis.
Through the week there was no violence and there were no anti-Dutch incidents. In Djakarta Dutchmen lolled in rattan chairs on their verandas, purposefully ignoring the sump-oil insults smeared on their house walls a fortnight ago. To counteract charges that the Dutch were being physically hustled out of Java, the government refused to allow foreign airlines to lay on special planes, made clear that the ejection of the Dutch would be gradual and proper.
Djuanda and Nasution were obviously intent on proving that the Indonesian government would keep order, proceed on its unpromising course with due and careful deliberation.