Thus the trio of Megawati, Rais and Gus Dur may well decide the next president.
The first task for Mr Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, is to establish his democratic credentials.
ECONOMIST: The daunting task awaiting Indonesia��s new president
"A Gus Dur-Megawati ticket is probably something Golkar could live with, " says Marzuki Darusman, leader of Golkar's reform wing.
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Indonesia: Taking It Right Down to the Wire
The first two are closely aligned, and the leaders of the groups, Megawati and Gus Dur, are personal friends.
What has clearly been going on since Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, took office last October is consolidation.
But the time for symbolism has come and gone, and Gus Dur has quickly set about putting his mark on government.
The three most prominent--Megawati, Gus Dur and Amien Rais--have yet to prove that they are capable of changing things for the better.
"People are expecting change, and Habibie does not symbolize this, " says Alwi Shihab, a chairman of Gus Dur's National Awakening Party (PKB).
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Indonesia: Taking It Right Down to the Wire
In the past few months Gus Dur has made matters worse for himself through several bone-headed misjudgments, not least in some of the appointments he has made.
By the same token Golkar would likely support Gus Dur over the populist Megawati in the hopes of holding onto some measure of power in a new administration.
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Indonesia: Taking It Right Down to the Wire
Gus Dur, the chief of Nahdlatul Ulama, a rural-based Muslim group that boasts 30 million members as well as its own political vehicle, the National Awakening Party (PKB).
"Gus Dur is very smart, " says political scientist Afan Gaffar.
But the relatively low profile may have been a blessing for Wahid (popularly known as Gus Dur), who did not fall into the trap of complacency as Megawati apparently did.
Yet during the dangerous Suharto years few people had resisted the regime's coercion more consistently and cleverly than the man his fellow Indonesians call Gus Dur (Gus is a term of respect, Dur is short for Abdurrahman).
Whether the people he has surrounded himself with see their positions as a public trust or as a prize in a lottery will ultimately determine the character of Gus Dur's government - and his place in history.
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