Gus Dur, Megawati to attend anniversary
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri are slated to arrive in Blitar, East Java, on Wednesday to attend ceremonies marking the 31st anniversary of the death of the country's first president, Sukarno, on Thursday.
Prior to his trip to Blitar, the President will visit Pasuruan to meet with the victims of the riots that hit the regency last month, presidential spokesman Yahya Staquf said.
"In the afternoon he will go to Blitar to attend the memorial ceremonies for Bung Karno," Yahya said.
Prior to the presidential election in October 1999, Abdurrahman and Megawati prayed together at Sukarno's tomb, also located in Blitar.
The relationship between Gus Dur and Megawati, Sukarno's eldest daughter, has been in trouble ever since the House of Representatives issued a second motion of censure against the President and sought to launch an impeachment process against him.
Thursday's commemorations will cap the celebrations being conducted in remembrance of founding president Sukarno this year. On June 6, the nation celebrated the 100th centenary of his birth.
President Soeharto ordered the burial of Sukarno in Bendogerit district, Blitar, where his parents were also buried, despite his request to be buried under a large tree at his then residence, the Batu Tulis Palace in Bogor, West Java.
The disgraced Sukarno died while still under house arrest.
According to her official schedule, Megawati will pray for her father alongside her siblings and, probably, some of Sukarno's wives.
Unlike Abdurrahman who will have arrived back in Jakarta on Thursday to attend a Cabinet meeting, Megawati looks certain to skip the meeting as she is scheduled to pay a working visit to other East Java regencies, including Abdurrahman's hometown, Jombang, on the same day.
Meanwhile, according to the chairman of the Sukarno memorial commemoration organizing committee, Djarot Syaiful, around 500,000 people will participate in the mass prayer to be held at the Blitar town square on Wednesday.
Other ceremonies will take place at the Rumah Gebang, the Sukarno ancestral home on Jl. Sultan Agung, and his grave on Jl. Slamet Riyadi.
"The population of Blitar town is only 200,000. Therefore, we would like to apologize as we won't be able to accommodate all of our guests," Djarot said, as quoted by Antara.
Hotels in the town have been fully booked up. Antara, the official news agency, also reported that many local residents were offering to rent out rooms, or even entire houses, to visitors. They were charging Rp 50,000 per guest per night, or Rp 1 million per night for a whole house.
Starting from Tuesday afternoon, the local police had closed the city to four-wheeled vehicles.
Police and military personnel were seen checking the sites the President and Vice President were expected to visit.
Separately, hundreds of supporters of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) have prepared volunteers to provide security in the town during the ceremony.
The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which Abdurrahman led for 15 years, has sent out invitations to 10,000 NU members to attend the ceremonies despite reported conflicts between Abdurrahman and Megawati.
Blitar's NU chairman Abdurrochim Siddik said certain people had been circulating rumors of conflicts between PDI Perjuangan supporters and NU members.
"We just laughed at the rumors," said Abdurrochim. (dja/prb)