Megawati makes the rounds in rallying elite ahead of runoff

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has been going out of her way to lobby the political elite ahead of the presidential runoff, saying it was necessary to communicate with other leading figures.

She confirmed meeting with former chief of the Army's Special Forces Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday, and is to meet National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, who lost to her and front- runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the July 5 election, after a minor haj.

However results of her meeting with Prabowo have yet to be disclosed. Prabowo was among contestants of the Golkar Party's convention for presidential candidates, in which former military commander Wiranto won.

Speaking before her departure to Mecca, Megawati said meeting with noted figures was "a political communication to unite perceptions. In this reform era, we have to be more proactive".

The statement is highly atypical of Megawati, who has been known for her passivity in communicating with members of the political elite -- a trait believed to have contributed significantly to her 1999 loss of the presidential seat, even though her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had garnered majority votes in the legislative election.

Over the past couple of months, however, she has been actively rallying support ahead of the runoff.

Megawati has also visited former president Abdurrahman Wahid -- who won in 1999 -- Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung and Vice President Hamzah Haz, who was also defeated in the July round.

"Both myself and Pak Amien are flexible. We do not need to rush a meeting," Megawati said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, accompanied by a 40-member entourage.

She is expected to return to Jakarta on Sunday.

"I want to pray for my country, because my government's term will end in October, and for a successful runoff," Megawati said.

Later on Wednesday, husband Taufik Kiemas hinted at preferred ministerial candidates if Megawati was reelected.

"People like Sri Mulyani and Azyumardi Azra are examples of people with integrity that could be good in the Cabinet," Taufik said, referring respectively to a prominent economist and Muslim academic.

Amid recent calls to replace crucial judicial members against the slow action against corruptors, Taufik said the post of attorney general should be given to someone who had bold anticorruption plans.

"We have to improve law enforcement in the country, and it is crucial that the public knows who will fill that position," he said.