Gus Dur to take part in summit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid confirmed on Friday
\nthat he would take part in a meeting of political leaders in
\nYogyakarta next week.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, meanwhile,
\ncontinued his campaign to have the summit expanded to involve a
\nmore representative group of leaders, warning of problems ahead
\nfor the country unless leaders from outside Java were invited.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there was no official word from Vice President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri as of Friday night about whether she would
\nattend the summit on Tuesday, which came about at the initiative
\nof Yogyakarta's Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.<\/p>\n
The fourth leader invited to the summit, House of
\nRepresentatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, has said he would go to
\nYogyakarta, but he too has proposed the meeting be expanded.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman set no preconditions on his participation in the
\nmeeting. "It's up to the host. I've been invited so I will go,"
\nhe said during a dialog following Friday prayer at Yashin Mosque
\nin Cibubur, East Jakarta. "Whether the others will go or not is
\nnone of my business. It's the concern of the host."<\/p>\n
The summit will be the first such gathering since the leaders
\nwere elected to their respective posts in October.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, Megawati, Amien Rais and the Sultan were not in
\nthe government when they held their historic meeting in November
\n1998. The Ciganjur meeting, named after Abdurrahman's residence
\nwhere the summit took place, provided impetus to the student-led
\nreform movement.<\/p>\n
The Yogyakarta summit comes after a plan for a similar summit
\nat a five-star hotel in Jakarta failed to materialize this month
\nbecause some of the invited participants refused to attend.<\/p>\n
Political analysts say a show of unity among the country's top
\npolitical leaders in Yogyakarta ahead of the Aug. 7 annual
\nmeeting of the Assembly could reduce political tension,
\nparticularly between the President and his critics in the
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
Amien warned on Wednesday that unless Abdurrahman made some
\nchanges, his presidency could end within three months. Amien,
\nhowever, has ruled out using the Assembly meeting in August to
\nimpeach the President.<\/p>\n
Besides their government positions, the four leaders invited
\nto the summit also represent some of the country's largest
\npolitical parties: Abdurrahman the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB), Megawati the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan), Amien the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Akbar
\nrepresents Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
Amien said on Friday problems could emerge unless the
\nYogyakarta summit included leaders from outside Java, including
\nAceh and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Makassar, South Sulawesi, he said he respected the
\nSultan's decision to limit the number of participants to only
\nfour, plus himself as the host. "But I don't think that the four
\nof us can decide the fate of such a big nation. Other leaders
\nshould be invited."<\/p>\n
Amien said including leaders from outside Java was imperative,
\nalthough he did not say which leaders he believed should be
\ninvited to the summit.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, Megawati and Amien are Javanese, and Akbar is
\nfrom North Sumatra but he has spent most of his life in Java.<\/p>\n
Opinions, meanwhile, were divided about the significance of
\nthe Yogyakarta summit to the country's political situation.<\/p>\n
A.A. Baramuli, the former chairman of the Supreme Advisory
\nCouncil and a respected figure in his home province of South
\nSulawesi, was dismissive, saying the summit would not solve any
\nof the problems faced by Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"The four are just individuals. They are not the real strength
\nof the nation," Baramuli said.<\/p>\n
"That (meeting) will be Java-oriented," he said after meeting
\nwith Amien Rais and former minister of trade and industry Yusuf
\nKalla at Makassar's Hasanuddin Airport.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, legislator Dimyati Hartono of PDI Perjuangan
\nsaid the gathering could cool down the political temperature
\nahead of the Assembly meeting.<\/p>\n
"I'm certain that the five want to create a peaceful
\nsituation," he said. "The fact that it is a private meeting is
\nnot a problem as long as they announce the results afterward."<\/p>\n
Daniel Sparingga of Airlangga University in Surabaya said the
\nmeeting would help eliminate psychological barriers separating
\nthe political leaders.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the Central Java city of Semarang, Daniel warned
\nagainst placing too high expectations on the summit. "People were
\ndisappointed when their meeting failed to take place," he said,
\nreferring to the aborted Jakarta gathering.<\/p>\n
He warned that the Yogyakarta meeting could fail given the
\nenmity that exists between the leaders, particularly between
\nMegawati and Amien. "Everybody knows that Megawati and Amien Rais
\nhave difficulties sitting together." (27\/har\/swa\/prb\/sur)<\/p>",
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