Megawati shuns key Cabinet talks: Aide

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri intentionally skipped a critical Cabinet meeting on Sunday due to her disappointment with President Abdurrahman Wahid's absence in the meeting, a close aide of Megawati said on Monday.

"I don't say that Megawati was deceived (by the President) but she was disappointed with the President's failure to turn up for the meeting," Arifin Panigoro, deputy chairman of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), told a media conference.

Abdurrahman was in Cilacap, Central Java on Sunday, instead of attending the planned Cabinet meeting.

Arifin said that following a medical checkup in Singapore on Friday, Megawati rushed back to Jakarta and canceled her weekend trips to Jembrana in Bali and Malang in East Java to attend the party's anniversary in order to join the Cabinet meeting.

"Megawati decided to go back to Jakarta after being informed by Cabinet secretary Marsillam Simanjuntak that the Cabinet meeting was convened to discuss an important issue," Arifin said.

Several party executives learned that the meeting would discuss whether a presidential decree to dissolve the House of Representatives should be issued or not.

Arifin said Megawati eventually decided to shun the Cabinet meeting after learning that the President instead had opted to visit Central Java, where he prayed at the grave of local spiritual leader.

"Ibu Mega was dejected because she had already called off the two important events of the party for a Cabinet meeting which the President did not attend," Arifin said. (rms)