Gus Dur's alleged affair a private matter: Legislators

JAKARTA (JP): Legislators refused to comment on an alleged extramarital affair between President Abdurrahman Wahid and Aryanti Sitepu, calling it a personal issue.

"It's a personal matter. Moreover, the matter happened a long time ago," House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Monday.

Akbar said the alleged affair had nothing to do with Abdurrahman's duties as President and head of state.

He rejected a proposal that the House summon Aryanti to clarify the matter, suggesting the case should be settled among those concerned according to the law.

"Let the matter be settled by Gus Dur himself and the woman," Akbar, who is also the chairman of Golkar Party, said, referring to the President by his nickname.

However, he said, the police should question Aryanti if they found indications she had slandered or defamed the President.

Similarly, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais described the alleged affair as a personal issue.

"There is an agreement among Assembly leaders that the MPR as an institution will not interfere in a matter which is very private," Amien, who also chairs the National Mandate Party (PAN), said in Semarang, Central Java, on Sunday night.

He said he had been advised by his deputies not to comment on the alleged affair, but he did acknowledge national leaders had been discussing the alleged affair for some time.

"I was the last person who was told about the case. Other top figures knew about it before me," Amien, who is the former chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, said.

Separately, an aide to Abdurrahman, poet Mustofa Bisri, said the President would pardon those who had created and spread the rumors of the alleged affair.

"These people must have dirty hearts to spread rumors of this alleged affair. It's such a slander that the public must laugh at it," Mustofa said.

Abdurrahman, who was chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, when the affair allegedly took place between 1995 and 1996, has rejected calls to address the issue.

The alleged affair came to light last week when Gatra and Panji Masyarakat weekly magazines published an interview with Aryanti. She said she was coming forward with her story because Abdurrahman had reneged on a promise to marry her. Aryanti insisted the affair took place, saying she had a picture of herself sitting on Gus Dur's lap in a hotel in Central Jakarta.

National Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo said on Saturday the police would question Aryanti and others believed to have knowledge of the matter this week.

The head of the National Police's Department of Information, Sr. Supt. Saleh Saaf, said the police had a responsibility to investigate the matter although the President had not filed a complaint.

"The police have a responsibility to protect both the President's safety and his good name," Saleh said at National Police Headquarters on Monday.

"Gus Dur's silence doesn't mean we don't have to conduct an investigation," he said, adding the police had yet to question Aryanti.

Saleh said the police were still trying to prove whether a crime had been committed. "The police are trying to find out the motive behind the case. Why the alleged affair was revealed during Gus Dur's presidency."

Saleh added the police also were investigating the authenticity of the photo of Aryanti and Abdurrahman. (jaw/har/jun)