Bond of friendship<\/p>\n
The picture of President Megawati Soekarnoputri shaking hands
\nwith former president Abdurrahman Wahid ran on the front page of
\nmany national papers on July 26.<\/p>\n
The meeting was the first since Abdurrahman was replaced by
\nMegawati one year ago. This meeting also took place without
\neither side saying anything out of courtesy for one another.<\/p>\n
The meeting at the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) conference was not an
\nicebreaker. After shaking hands with other NU ulemas, Megawati
\nskipped doing the same with Abdurrahman and did not shake hands
\nwith him until Syaifullah Yusuf prompted her to do so.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman behaved the same. Before Megawati went onstage to
\ngive her address, he left the room, saying that he had another
\nappointment that evening.<\/p>\n
We hope this was just out of negligence. However, it is
\ndifficult to avoid the impression that political events involving
\nthem has created a distance between them.<\/p>\n
We must look at the examples given by the founders of this
\nrepublic. Mohammad Hatta, Muhammad Natsir and Sjahrir were in
\ngreat conflict with Sukarno, but the four of them were not
\ntrapped by narrow-mindedness. Through their differences, they
\nhelped one another and maintained the bond of friendship.<\/p>\n
-- Republika, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bond-of-friendship-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }