Megawati opens Muhammadiyah anual meeting in Denpasar

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.