Last chance for dialog

When President Abdurrahman Wahid proposed a dialog with the leaders of all major political parties, understandably it was initially greeted with a high degree of skepticism. Because of the way it was presented, including its timing, the proposal was widely seen as a public relations gimmick from a man desperately clinging to power, rather than a genuine attempt at dialog.

The President's political standing has been precarious of late. His credibility is waning after being hit by a number of scandals and controversies, and with it, the popular support which he enjoyed in the first months after his election in October 1999.

He is also facing the threat of impeachment from his political adversaries in the House of Representatives (DPR), and calls for his resignation from friends and foes alike.

So when he broached the idea of a "reconciliation" meeting, as the proposed dialog is called, the initial reactions from most of the leaders invited was cool at best.

Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), sets a number of terms for her participation, particularly the need for a clear agenda.

Amien Rais, chairman of both the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), rejected the proposal outright, saying that he did not see the point of it all. Amien, who maneuvered to ensure Abdurrahman's election in 1999, is leading the campaign to oust him.

Akbar Tandjung, speaker of the DPR and chairman of the Golkar party, has been non-committal, although he appeared willing to give the dialog a chance.

The trouble with this kind of proposed dialog is that it has been tried once before, and nothing substantive came out of it. This was a major let down given the massive publicity and hype that went before the meeting between the four leaders in Yogyakarta last August. The public may be forgiven today for asking what chance another meeting, if it is to take place at all, would have in solving the nation's problems.

The gaps between these leaders must have further widened by now after their latest exchange of harsh words. If bridging them was difficult then, it must now seem virtually impossible.

But whatever the political leaders feel, and however skeptical the public may be about another meeting, there is nothing left for the country's leaders to do short of waging an all out battle between the President and his adversaries who are hell bent on ousting him.

The President is equally determined to fight the impeachment attempt and, with his die-hard supporters vowing to fight to the death, there is a strong prospect that any battle would turn ugly and violent.

Given this condition, a dialog, no matter how remote the chance of success it has, is still better than no dialog at all, especially when the second alternative could mean street clashes between supporters and opponents of the President.

If skepticism about the dialog was prompted because the initiative has come from the President, then someone else who is neutral in the current power struggle should take over from him. Yogyakarta ruler Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who hosted the reconciliation meeting in August, or respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid are two possible candidates possessing the credibility and integrity suited to the task.

While there is no guarantee of success if the initiative is taken up by someone else, there will certainly be less suspicion, and more people will probably be willing to give it a go. With the initiative out of the President's hands, it would also be easier to set a clearer agenda, or even a specific goal that the meeting should aim for, a condition which Megawati has set to ensure her participation.

We would like to propose that the meeting set a more ambitious goal than merely seeking reconciliation between the leaders, as originally proposed by the President.

Reconciliation, while an important beginning, would not be enough, as it would only put the nation back to where it was several months ago. It would not resolve the various problems currently facing the country.

The meeting should instead discuss ways of saving the nation which is on the verge of collapse. The lack of effective government in Indonesia these past few months -- caused largely because leaders have been too busy with feuding with each other -- has pushed Indonesia further to the brink of destruction.

With that in mind, the leaders should work out a compromise that is truly in the interests of the country. If they have some statesmanship qualities left in them, they should all give dialog a chance. It is probably their last chance to save the nation.