Mega to give SBY inauguration a miss

Mega to give SBY inauguration a miss

Fabiola Desy Unidjadja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While leaders of neighboring countries are confirmed to attend
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inauguration, outgoing President
Megawati Soekarnoputri has decided to stay away.

Pramono Anung, deputy secretary-general of her Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said on Saturday that
Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz would not be present when
Susilo takes his oath of office on Oct. 20.

"Neither of them will attend the inauguration because there is
no regulation requiring the incumbent president and vice
president to attend the event," Pramono said after attending a
party meeting.

Neither Hamzah nor his close aides were available for comment
on Saturday.

A reliable palace source said on Friday that Megawati, who
suffered a crushing defeat to Susilo in the Sept. 20 election,
would attend the inauguration of Susilo and his vice president
Jusuf Kalla. Both Susilo and Kalla were Megawati's coordinating
ministers.

"As the agenda is only the inauguration of the president and
vice president, the party leadership has decided that both of
them (Megawati and Hamzah) will not attend the event," Pramono
said.

Pramono also emphasized that Megawati had no plan to meet
Susilo in the near future and rejected suggestions that Megawati
had to meet the incoming president for the sake of national
reconciliation.

"Reconciliation comes after a conflict or a clash. Ibu Mega
has clearly said that she has no problem with the election
result," Pramono said.

Susilo and Kalla have on several occasions publicly expressed
their desire to meet Megawati before the inauguration to
facilitate the transition of power.

Pramono said Megawati has instructed her Cabinet ministers to
prepare for the transfer of power to ensure a smooth transition
of government.

"It is sufficient that the transfer of government be done at
the ministerial level," he said.

Meanwhile, detik.com reported on Saturday that Singaporean
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would attend Susilo's inauguration
ceremony, making him the fourth head of state of a neighboring
country to attend the event.

Quoting television station Channel News Asia, detik.com said
Lee's participation in the ceremony was announced by his personal
secretary Ong Ye Kung.

Foreign ministry officials were not available for comment on
the news on Saturday.

Earlier, government officials here said that Australian Prime
Minister John Howard, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi and East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri would also
attend the ceremony.