Activists must unite: Megawati

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Sukarnoputri said yesterday that Indonesian prodemocracy advocates lacked solidarity.

Indonesian prodemocracy groups were busy minding their own business rather than joining forces to achieve a common goal, she said in a seminar.

She said prodemocracy activists were like people living in different chambers of a glasshouse where outsiders could clearly see everything that they did.

"Inside, we can only see each other but do not address each other," Megawati told the seminar on Development in the Perspective of Indonesian Pluralism held by Gadjah Mada University student activists.

Megawati, who lost the PDI leadership in a government- sanctioned congress last year, said she was ready to meet with other prodemocracy activists.

Another speaker, Didin Damanhuri, a political analyst from the Center for Information and Development Studies, said that Indonesia needed of a coalition of "clean" leaders to promote democracy.

"I think it is high time for us to think of such a coalition," he said. The term "clean coalition" was first raised by Amien Rais of Gadjah Mada University.

Didin said the country needed open political communication between the government and the public, especially between community leaders.

Another speaker, Revrisond Baswir, said that meetings should be held involving prominent figures, such as Megawati, Amien, Golkar deputy chairman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Abdurrahman Wahid -- who chairs the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization -- to exchange ideas on how to promote democracy. (23/aan)