I'll obey Megawati's advice: Gus Dur

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

Although he has consistently refused to acknowledge Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidency, former president Abdurrahman Wahid said Saturday that he would heed Megawati's advice to delay unnecessary trips to the U.S. after it required Indonesian males aged 16 and older to register with immigration.

"I can understand Washington's policy, but as a good citizen I will follow the advice of my leader," Abdurrahman told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said that he was slated to leave for Michigan, the United States on Jan. 29 to speak at a seminar on terrorism at the University of Michigan, but had canceled the trip.

"I was invited by the University of Michigan to talk about Islam and terrorism, Indonesia's current condition and globalization. But since there was the advice not to go then I will not go," he remarked.

Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, was impeached by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for incompetence in July 2001. Megawati, then vice president, was installed as his predecessor, but Abdurrahman refused to recognize her as the country's legitimate president. Since then, they have only met once, during a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress last year, but they did not talk to each other.

The U.S. registration system, conducted from Feb. 24 to March 28, is part of its efforts to fight terrorism, but provoked the ire of Jakarta who called the policy discriminatory.

Foreigners living in Indonesia are required to report to both immigration and police.

Gus Dur is the patron of NU, the largest Muslim organization in the country and considered a moderate Muslim group.

Gus Dur underlined that Washington's new ruling was based on the country's law and could not be interfered with by other countries.

"We have to see this as legal matters and not political matters," he remarked.

During a visit to Cirebon on Saturday, Gus Dur also criticized Megawati over the controversial price hikes.

"Megawati made several decisions such as the electricity, telephone and fuel price hikes, in which only the people suffer.

"And the worst of all is Megawati still insists on maintaining the policy despite rallies across the country against the decisions," he said.