Megawati's setback

Megawati's setback

Your report on Sunday, June 27, with the headline Megawati's
bid suffers setback, which stated that "Abdurrahman Wahid, Amien
Rais, Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Hamzah Haz agreed on Saturday that
Islam bars women from becoming heads of state" clearly distorts
the substance of the discussions among the four politicians. Your
reporters have clearly missed the point of their conclusion.

The opening paragraph of your article, which stated that the
four politicians agreed that "Islam bars women from becoming
heads of state" makes it seem that the discussion among the four
men resulted in such a conclusion. That is clearly not the point.

It is true that Abdurrahman Wahid said that, "If Megawati is
elected, Islamic groups will not accept her", but in this case it
is clear that he is offering a general statement, and not
necessarily stating his own views and opinions.

The meetings among the four leaders seemed to be aimed to find
a solution in anticipation of a deadlock in the presidential
election in November, and actually not meant at all to set back
Megawati's bid for presidency.

Indonesian politics is complex as it is. Please take care so
as to minimize further distortion of Indonesia's complex
political issues.

AMIR SIDHARTA

Jakarta