Megawati opens Muhammadiyah anual meeting in Denpasar

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

President Megawati Soekarnoputri officially opened the Muhammadiyah four-day annual meeting here on Thursday with a call for the second-largest Muslim organization to continue its contribution to the nation-building process, especially in the education sector.

The President arrived at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur at around 1:15 p.m., accompanied by her husband Taufik Kiemas, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa.

Escorted by Muhammadiyah Chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif and several high-ranking officials of the Bali provincial administration, including Bali governor I Dewa Made Beratha, the President and her entourage entered the hotel's Agung Room, which was already fully-packed with hundreds of tanwir (meeting) participants from every corner of the country.

A recitation of verses from the Koran marked the start of the opening ceremony, which was later followed by a performance of the Balinese classical legong dance. Toward the end, the dancers, to everybody's amazement, stepped down from the stage and approached the President before clapping their hands in front of their chests and slightly bowing their heads in a traditional gesture of respect for the nation's leader.

In her speech, which repeatedly drew huge applause from the participants, Megawati stressed that Muhammadiyah was not a strange entity to her, since she was brought up in a Muhammadiyah family. She recalled that her father the late Sukarno, who was also the country's first president, was a member of the Muhammadiyah, and once even served in the movement's executive body.

Meanwhile, Megawati's mother was the daughter of Muhammadiyah's top executive in Bengkulu, Sumatra.

"And I believe that it is for the first time in history that a woman from a Muhammadiyah family is leading this country as its president," she said, to huge applause from the participants.

Megawati stressed that since she was raised in a Muhammadiyah family, it was her obligation to pray for the success of the tanwir.

"I sincerely pray that this meeting will produce results that will bring benefit to both Muhammadiyah members and the people of Indonesia," she said.

She also expressed her confidence that Muhammadiyah would be able to continue its significant contribution to the improvement of the nation.

"Muhammadiyah has made a lot of significant contributions to the unity of the nation, to the development of the country's education sector, and to the effort to produce prosperity for all of our people," she said in praise.

After the opening ceremony, President Megawati left for Yogyakarta, while participants of the tanwir moved downtown to Natour hotel to attend the organization's sessions. On Thursday night, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais delivered his speech titled, "The Indonesian Vision and the enlightenment of the Nation."

On Friday, a number of speakers, including Nurcholis Madjid and historian Taufik Abdullah, will discuss the current and future social and political situation in Indonesia.