Gus Dur to take part in summit

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid confirmed on Friday that he would take part in a meeting of political leaders in Yogyakarta next week.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, meanwhile, continued his campaign to have the summit expanded to involve a more representative group of leaders, warning of problems ahead for the country unless leaders from outside Java were invited.

Meanwhile, there was no official word from Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri as of Friday night about whether she would attend the summit on Tuesday, which came about at the initiative of Yogyakarta's Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

The fourth leader invited to the summit, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, has said he would go to Yogyakarta, but he too has proposed the meeting be expanded.

Abdurrahman set no preconditions on his participation in the meeting. "It's up to the host. I've been invited so I will go," he said during a dialog following Friday prayer at Yashin Mosque in Cibubur, East Jakarta. "Whether the others will go or not is none of my business. It's the concern of the host."

The summit will be the first such gathering since the leaders were elected to their respective posts in October.

Abdurrahman, Megawati, Amien Rais and the Sultan were not in the government when they held their historic meeting in November 1998. The Ciganjur meeting, named after Abdurrahman's residence where the summit took place, provided impetus to the student-led reform movement.

The Yogyakarta summit comes after a plan for a similar summit at a five-star hotel in Jakarta failed to materialize this month because some of the invited participants refused to attend.

Political analysts say a show of unity among the country's top political leaders in Yogyakarta ahead of the Aug. 7 annual meeting of the Assembly could reduce political tension, particularly between the President and his critics in the Assembly.

Amien warned on Wednesday that unless Abdurrahman made some changes, his presidency could end within three months. Amien, however, has ruled out using the Assembly meeting in August to impeach the President.

Besides their government positions, the four leaders invited to the summit also represent some of the country's largest political parties: Abdurrahman the National Awakening Party (PKB), Megawati the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Amien the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Akbar represents Golkar Party.

Amien said on Friday problems could emerge unless the Yogyakarta summit included leaders from outside Java, including Aceh and Kalimantan.

Speaking in Makassar, South Sulawesi, he said he respected the Sultan's decision to limit the number of participants to only four, plus himself as the host. "But I don't think that the four of us can decide the fate of such a big nation. Other leaders should be invited."

Amien said including leaders from outside Java was imperative, although he did not say which leaders he believed should be invited to the summit.

Abdurrahman, Megawati and Amien are Javanese, and Akbar is from North Sumatra but he has spent most of his life in Java.

Opinions, meanwhile, were divided about the significance of the Yogyakarta summit to the country's political situation.

A.A. Baramuli, the former chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council and a respected figure in his home province of South Sulawesi, was dismissive, saying the summit would not solve any of the problems faced by Indonesia.

"The four are just individuals. They are not the real strength of the nation," Baramuli said.

"That (meeting) will be Java-oriented," he said after meeting with Amien Rais and former minister of trade and industry Yusuf Kalla at Makassar's Hasanuddin Airport.

In Yogyakarta, legislator Dimyati Hartono of PDI Perjuangan said the gathering could cool down the political temperature ahead of the Assembly meeting.

"I'm certain that the five want to create a peaceful situation," he said. "The fact that it is a private meeting is not a problem as long as they announce the results afterward."

Daniel Sparingga of Airlangga University in Surabaya said the meeting would help eliminate psychological barriers separating the political leaders.

Speaking in the Central Java city of Semarang, Daniel warned against placing too high expectations on the summit. "People were disappointed when their meeting failed to take place," he said, referring to the aborted Jakarta gathering.

He warned that the Yogyakarta meeting could fail given the enmity that exists between the leaders, particularly between Megawati and Amien. "Everybody knows that Megawati and Amien Rais have difficulties sitting together." (27/har/swa/prb/sur)