Big four to attend Yogya meeting

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the committee organizing the meeting of political leaders here, GBPH Joyokusumo, confirmed on Sunday that all of the top figures invited have confirmed their attendance.

Joyokusumo told The Jakarta Post that as of Sunday none of the four invitees, including Megawati Soekarnoputri, had dropped their plan to come to the Aug. 1 summit.

Vice President Megawati is the only figure who has yet to announce her presence at the summit, after President Abdurrahman Wahid, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais all publicly expressed their willingness to respond to the Sultan's invitation.

"Until today Mbak Mega has yet to reject the invitation," said Roy Janis, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) which Megawati chairs.

Speaking on the sidelines of a mass prayer meeting jointly organized by PDI Perjuangan and Nahdlatul Ulama on Saturday, Roy said that Megawati had received the invitation from Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

When pressed further, Roy said: "Nothing is clear (whether Megawati will come or not) but the fact is she has never said that she won't come."

Megawati's absence was said to be the reason for the cancellation of the planned summit in Jakarta on July 12.

Joyokusumo denied on Sunday speculation that Megawati would again skip the meeting of prominent figures.

"Who said that Ibu Mega has passed the event over? She just told us that she would attend it," Joyokusumo, Hamengkubuwono's younger brother, said.

Akbar Tandjung expressed hope that Megawati will not miss the meeting because it will show the public that all political figures still have the intention of improving the country's poor condition.

"I do not know for sure but I heard that she will come. Let's hope that she will attend the meeting," Akbar said on Saturday.

Many expect that the meeting between the four political leaders will ease the tension and conflict at the grassroots level that have plagued the country ahead of the People's Consultative Assembly session.

Abdurrahman, Megawati and Amien were out of government when they held a historic meeting in Abdurrahman's residence in Ciganjur two years ago. The meeting motivated the student-led reform movement that forced former president Soeharto to resign.

Joyokusumo said it was unlikely that more people would be invited to the gathering, which coincides with the sultan's 56th anniversary.

"Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has told me that this time around we can only facilitate the meeting of those four prominent figures. It will take more time to prepare if other political leaders are also invited as previously requested by Pak Amien," he said.

Amien and Akbar suggested on Friday that the meeting be expanded to involve a more representative group of leaders, saying the multidimensional problems the country is facing could not be settled by the four alone.

Joyokusumo said it took more than two months to arrange the meeting. He promised an extended gathering would take place after the August MPR session.

He also reiterated that the Yogyakarta royal family does not have any hidden agenda in respect of the plan.

"We just want to respect to our ancestor's teaching that we have to take action if the country is in trouble," Joyokusumo said.

Separately, political observer Cornelis Lay of Gadjah Mada University said on Saturday that the gathering can make a significant contribution to reducing tension as political distrust among the members of the elite has reached alarming levels.

"The meeting must be able to counter the possibility of efforts being made to topple Abdurrahman, but it cannot be expected to come up with the overall solution to this country's multitude of problems," Cornelis said on the sidelines of the launching of Gudangbuku.com library online service.

A political observer from the University of Indonesia, Muhammad Budyatna, was skeptical that such a meeting would yield fruit because it has been difficult for the political leaders to unify their interests.

"I'm afraid the summit will not be a success, because each of them has the ambition to be number one in the country. The so- called four reformists will not reach any consensus among themselves," he said on Sunday.

Brushing aside the possibility that the meeting is aimed at revamping the distribution of power among the members of the political elite, Budyatna said the political situation now remains fragile as a result of last year's general election, in which no party emerged with an overall majority.

"Rather than seeking an ideal distribution of power among themselves, each of the figures will be looking for allies to face off the other parties. There will never be eternal friends or enemies, only their interests will last long," he said. (44/edt/bby/dja)