Big four to attend Yogya meeting

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)