Later in the evening, Megawati apologized for her absence,

Later in the evening, Megawati apologized for her absence, saying she had been unavoidably detained.

"I would like to extend my sincerest apology for ... not being able to attend the opening ceremony...," she said at a dinner reception at the Bogor Palace, which she hosted.

Earlier, detik.com reported that a number of Indonesian legislators had said they would boycott the reception in response to Megawati's failure to open the AIPO meeting.

"As head of state, she should have attended...," said legislator Alvin Lie as quoted by detik.com.