Megawati cancels trip to Papua

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri had canceled a planned visit to Irian Jaya due to, among other things, the heavy flu she had been suffering from over the past three days, an aide said on Friday.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) deputy secretary general, Agnita Singadikane Irsal, said Megawati was unable to speak due to the flu.

"How can the president deliver a speech in Papua if she cannot even speak," Agnita said to journalists after meeting the president, who is also the party's chief.

She added that another reason for canceling the trip was the stormy political climate in Irian Jaya due to the rejection by some groups of the special autonomy package that the central government was offering.

"The President should listen to the advice of ministers... it is unusual because the Papuans were asking for autonomy, why are they now rejecting it?" she said.

Initially, she planned to leave for Irian Jaya on Dec. 23 to attend Christmas celebrations. No new dates have been set for a possible future visit.--JP