Ciganjur alumni to meet Habibie
JAKARTA (JP): The planned Ciganjur II meeting is scheduled to take place this Saturday at the residence of President B.J. Habibie rather than in Yogyakarta as initially announced, sources told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
A source said Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto was also expected to attend.
The first Ciganjur meeting took place last November when National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Yogyakarta monarch and governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri were brought together by university students at Abdurrahman's residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.
"The meeting will be attended by the alumni of the first Ciganjur meeting, including Gus Dur, Amien and Sultan Hamengkubuwono," one source said.
He added it was still not certain whether Megawati would attend the meeting, but he quoted Abdurrahman as saying he was "75 percent sure Megawati would come".
The source said the planned meeting, initiated by Abdurrahman, would attempt to reach a consensus on the next presidency.
"Apparently the meeting will try to persuade Megawati to back down from her bid for the presidency," the source said.
Golkar Party deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman, meanwhile, told the Post it was highly unlikely Megawati would agree to attend the meeting.
"I've talked to PDI Perjuangan leaders and they told me they were not going to give up the race for the presidency," Marzuki said in a telephone interview from Singapore.
Prior to the June 7 general election, the Ciganjur group was considered to represent most Indonesians, and its opinion was taken into account by the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly last November, he said.
The group issued the Ciganjur Declaration, which included the motion to phase out the military's political role.
Earlier, Amien said the agenda for the second Ciganjur meeting had not yet been decided, though it would most likely focus on candidates for the presidency. (lem)