Mega kicks reporters out of party meeting

Mega kicks reporters out of party meeting

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Megawati Soekarnoputri banned reporters from covering her party's
Idul Fitri celebration on Tuesday and sent them out of a meeting
at party headquarters in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.

"I am briefing my supporters, so please leave the room," said
Megawati, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Dozens of electronic and print reporters, who were officially
invited by the party's secretariat, were there to cover the
event.

Stressing that the celebration was not for public view,
Megawati personally asked the media to be escorted out of the
meeting hall.

"This is not for publication, this is off-the-record so should
there be news about this (meeting) I will sue (the media running
the story)," she said.

In justifying the ban, she remarked: "Journalists should
respect their code of ethics, and the media have been very
lenient with this. I expect the media people to be disciplined."

Megawati's remark came in the middle of her impromptu speech
in front of hundreds of supporters at party headquarters.

Annoyed by her statement, all journalists left the venue. Some
party members tried to appease the journalists by apologizing for
the remark and asked that they remain in the compound until the
event was over.

"We do not need to stay here; you invited us, but Megawati
threw us out, so why should we stay?" a journalist told party
leaders.

Most of the journalists attending the event had received
official invitations signed by PDI Perjuangan secretary-general
Soetjipto.

Megawati has expressed disappointment over the media on
several occasions for focusing too much on her failures, rather
than her accomplishments, since she became head of state in 2001.

The President has sued one of the editors of the Rakyat
Merdeka daily for comparing her to the notorious cannibal
Soemanto and won, with the editor receiving a suspended sentence.

During a recent meeting with the national association of
publishers, Megawati promised to settle any disputes with the
media through the National Press Council before bringing the case
to court.